Women Take Second, Marakov Medals to Cap ACCs

Saturday, February 22

Chapel Hill, N.C.

Duke University

ACC Championships

Photo by: Andy Mead/ACC

Women Take Second, Marakov Medals to Cap ACCs

2/23/2025 8:34:00 PM | Fencing

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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The Duke fencing team ended the ACC Championships with the men's individual competition and women's team portion inside UNC's Eddie Smith Field House.

The second-seeded Duke women took on top-seeded Notre Dame in the final round of the team competition to determine the champion as both entered the match with 3-0 records during the day. The Fighting Irish held on for a 19-8 victory to seal the team title.

On the men's side, senior epee Allen Marakov captured a bronze medal while freshman saber Lev Ermakov took fourth.

How It Happened

In the women's team competition, Duke breezed through its first three matches to set up the anticipated top-seed showdown with Notre Dame. The Blue Devils opened with a 18-9 triumph over Boston College before topping North Carolina 19-8 and Stanford 17-10.
Duke's saber squad led the way through the first three matches, outscoring foes 20-7. The Blue Devil foil group also turned in an impressive advantage of 17-10 through the first three matches.
In the championship match, Notre Dame took eight of the nine points in saber and finished the day 35-1 in saber. Duke did not fade, however, taking three of the first four decisions in epee and foil to trail just 6-3. The Fighting Irish went on a run to put the contest out of reach with a 13-5 advantage before securing the 19-8 triumph.
The Duke women were led by sophomore Charlotte Koenig and junior Rachel Koo, who each tallied nine foil triumphs. Graduate saber Sky Miller was just behind with eight victories.
Marakov earned his highest career ACC finish with his bronze. He had placed 13th (2022), fifth (2023) and seventh (2024) at the league event entering this weekend. The Basking Ridge, N.J., native finished 4-2 in pool competition to receive the No. 5 seed. In the quarterfinals, he earned a 15-12 upset of No. 4 seed James Sennewald of Notre Dame. Top seed Eli Lippman of North Carolina downed Marakov 15-13 in the semifinal bout. Marakov faced No. 3 seed Aiden Click, also a Tar Heel, in the bronze contest and earned a 15-14 triumph.
Ermakov capped his first ACC Championships appearance with a fourth-place showing. He went 4-2 in pool competition to earn the No. 6 seed. He upset No. 3 seed Nicky Wind of North Carolina 15-10 in the round of eight to move to the semifinals. Ermakov was upended by No. 2 seed Ahmed Hesham of Notre Dame 15-13 in the semifinals and No. 5 seed Grant Dodrill 15-14 in the bronze match.

Quote

"It was a good day for us, even though we didn't win the championship, falling short in the final match against Notre Dame. I'm proud of the team's effort; they fought hard, but Notre Dame was the better team today. This is part of the process—we'll learn from it and come back stronger next year. Our focus is now on regionals in two weeks. Go Duke!" – Head coach Omar Elgeziry

Up Next

The NCAA Regionals will take place March 8 at Drew University.

For more information on Duke fencing, follow the Blue Devils on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching for "DukeFEN".

RESULTS
MEN'S EPEE
Ethan Boroditsky 2-3
Allen Marakov 6-3; No. 5 seed, defeated in semifinal and won bronze bout
Kozmo Rhyu 1-5
Xander Wilcox 1-4

MEN'S FOIL
Laith Elkousy 3-2
Joseph Glasson 3-2
Owen Li 3-3
Ryan Pelosky 0-5

MEN'S SABER
Lev Ermakov 5-4; No. 6 seed, defeated in semifinal and dropped bronze bout
Justin Glozman 1-5
Joshua Lo 2-4
Justin Morrill 0-5

No. 6 Duke Women | 3-1
No. 6 Duke def. Boston College 18-9 (S8-1, F6-3, E4-5)
No. 6 Duke def. North Carolina 19-8 (S7-2, F7-2, E5-4)
No. 6 Duke def. No. 14 Stanford 17-10 (S5-4, F4-5, E8-1)
No. 2 Notre Dame def. No. 6 Duke 19-8 (S8-1, F4-5, E7-2)

WOMEN'S EPEE
Eiry Du 1-2
Rachel Kowalsky 5-4
Katie Lin 6-5
Vanessa Lin 4-6

WOMEN'S FOIL
Charlotte Koenig 9-3
Rachel Koo 9-3
Skylar Knight 3-2
Sophia Shen 1-6

WOMEN'S SABER
Kavya Menke 3-1
Sky Miller 8-4
Natalie Olsen 5-6
Kunling Tong 5-4