Results

PHILADELPHIA – The Drew University women's fencing team opened its 2026-27 season at the Temple University Nikki Franke Classic on Saturday at the Liacouras Center.
 
Eight Rangers were in action at the highly-competitive event, which featured numerous prominent Division I and Division III programs. All but one reached the 64-competitor direct elimination round in all three weapons.

The Rangers posted their top performance in sabre, with sophomore Sabrina Holmes placing 14th and classmate Ava Insinga taking 25th.

Holmes opened the day by going 3-2 in the first round, defeating fencers from NJIT, Temple, and Johns Hopkins, before going 2-3 in the second round with wins over opponents from Wagner and NJIT. Then in the direct elimination, she opened with back-to-back victories, starting with a 15-3 win over Oju Rizal of Haverford. She followed up with a 15-8 win over Morrigan Adams of Wagner to reach the round of 16, where she battled No. 3-seeded Lila Paul of Penn but ultimately fell 15-10.

Insinga started with a 2-3 mark in the first round, which included wins over opponents from Johns Hopkins and Temple. She also went 2-3 in the second round, beating fencers from Temple and Penn. Insinga captured one victory in the direct elimination, defeating Adaugo Ejiogu of CCNY 15-5 before bowing out with a 15-9 loss to Cathleen Shi of Penn.

In foil, junior Filiz Erdogan placed 27th, junior Tala Varoqua finished 37th, and freshman Elise Lemasters came in 41st.

Erdogan opened the day by going 2-3 in the first round with wins over fencers from Drexel and NJIT. She then went 3-2 in the second round, defeating opponents from Boston College, Penn, and Florida. In the direct elimination, she opened with a 15-5 win over Carolina Lazar of FDU before seeing her day come to an end with a 15-5 loss to No. 5 seed Eleanor Li of Johns Hopkins.

Varoqua started by going 1-3 in the opening round with a win over an opponent from Army. She then went 4-1 in the second round, defeating two fencers from Johns Hopkins and one each from Penn and Florida. In the direct elimination, she lost 15-3 to Sara Del Cure of Temple in her first bout.

Lemasters opened the day by going 1-3 in the first round, picking up a win over an opponent from Temple Club. She followed up with an impressive performance in the second round, going 5-0 win victories over fencers from Penn, Stevens, Boston College, Sacred Heart, and Haverford. In the knockout round, she fell by a 15-3 count to Jasmine Wang of Johns Hopkins.

In epee, junior Alisha Bourhill-Tumser led the way with a 35th-place finish while freshman Cassie Miller placed 41st and sophomore Emily Varhaul took 51st.

Bourhill-Tumser went 1-3 with a win over a fencer from Rutgers in the first round before finishing 3-2 with wins over opponents from Florida, Drexel, and Boston College in the second round. In the direct elimination, she lost 15-11 to Shreeya Shankerdos of Rutgers in the opening round.

Miller started the day by going 2-3 in the first round, defeating opponents from Penn and Stevens, then finished 4-1 in the second round with victories over fencers from Stevens, Sacred Heart, Boston College, and Penn. She closed the day with a 15-9 loss to Tallulah Nguyen of Boston College.

Varoqua finished 4-1 in the first round, posting wins over opponents from Florida, Wagner, Boston College and Sacred Heart.

The Rangers continue their season on Sunday, Nov. 1 with a tri-meet at NJIT.