USA Fencing

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – The U.S. Women’s Foil Team earned its best finish at a World Cup since 2013 on Sunday when the squad placed fourth at the Cancun World Cup.

Fencing in the opening World Cup of the season, 2014 Senior World Team members Lee Kiefer (Lexington, Ky.), Nicole Ross (New York City, N.Y.), Margaret Lu (Greenwich, Conn.) and Sabrina Massialas (San Francisco, Calif.) drew Korea, the 2012 Olympic bronze medalists, in the quarter-finals.

Team USA fenced a conservative match with the score tied at 13 after the seventh bout. Kiefer came in for the eighth and put Team USA up by one when she outtouched Seung Min Lim, 2-1. Fencing as anchor for the second time on the senior circuit, Lu defeated Ha Na Oh, 6-2, to give Team USA the victory, 21-16.

In the semifinals, Team USA fenced Russia, the 2014 Senior World silver medalists, and kept the score close before dropping the match, 45-38.

France upset Italy, the reigning Senior World and Olympic Champions, in the other semifinal, 45-35, which set up a bronze medal match between Team USA and the top-ranked Italians.

Italy took the win, 45-29, and Team USA finished fourth.

Click here to view complete results.

Top eight results are as follows:

Cancun Foil Team World Cup
1. Russia
2. France
3. Italy
4. USA
5. Korea
6. Germany
7. Poland
8. China