Fairfield, Conn. – Hosting its annual SHU Tradition meet, the Sacred Heart women's fencing team picked up its first victory of the season in a close 14-13 decision over the LIU Sharks.

Nadia Gaberkorn would be the deciding points for the Pioneers over LIU as she picked up two points in epee, her second coming in her final bout by a 5-4 decision. She also scored a 5-1 decision in her second bout. Seven of the Pioneers 14 points came in foil where it was a 7-2 decision led by Zayna Saidi who was a perfect 3-0 in the discipline. Jess Murphy also picked up three points against the Sharks, sweeping her bouts in foil.

Gaberkorn's success against LIU wasn't her only of the day as the senior scored a pair of sweeps against top ranked opponents with those decisions coming against Princeton (No. 4) and Temple (No. 12).

Overall for the day, the Pioneers finished 1-6, dropping decisions to NJIT, Temple, NYU, Princeton and Yale. Sacred Heart came close against the Highlanders with a 16-11 decision against NJIT. Foil led the way against the Highlanders with Ines Benadouda sweeping her three bouts and Megan DePersis going 2-1.

The women's fencing team will enjoy a break before returning to action on January 17 when they travel to Pennsylvania for the UPenn Invitational.