ITHACA, N.Y. -- Head coach Ariana Klinkov is building something special, and Cornell fencing fans are the beneficiaries of that sustained success.

How successful, you ask?

The Big Red sports a 113-32 dual meet record over her tenure, with 26 wins over nationally-ranked opponents dotting the landscape. Twice Cornell has toppled the No. 1 team in the country (2019 Princeton, 2023 Notre Dame). They have become regular residents in the national top 10 and got even stronger in the offseason with the addition of Dan Bass as assistant coach and Holly Buechel as director of operations. Bass most recently had served as head women's coach at Fairleigh Dickinson. Buechel was an Ivy champion at Penn and later a three-time US National Champion and a two-time alternate to the U.S. Olympic Team in epee.

Seven NCAA regional and two national qualifiers return from last season's 30-8 squad and despite graduation losses, the Big Red train expects to keep on rolling.

Junior Ketki Ketkar became the first Cornell All-American since 2015 after earning bronze at the 2024 NCAA Championships in epee. The two-time first-team All-Ivy selection and 2024 NCAA regional champion enters the year with a 95-31 record and is closing in on 100 career victories. NCAA regional qualifiers senior Emma Ni and junior Nora Weber also return, as will Ketki's twin sister Mallika and sophomore Natalie Leung, one of just three Big Red fencers to win 30 bouts in dual meet competition a year ago.  Freshmen Katherine Alexandrov and Elaine Hong and sophomore Nawal O'Neil will have an opportunity break into the lineup as well.

Sophomore Isabela Carvalho is the lone returner in the championship lineup from sabre, though there is still plenty of talent and depth with the weapon. Carvalho won more than 50 bouts a season ago and joined Ketki Ketkar as an NCAA qualifier this past spring. Seniors Emma Brown and Sarah Lacson and juniors Erika Chin and Fiona Neibart all were part of the Ivy League Tournament roster and saw action at the championships, giving plenty of options to choose from in building the team. Freshman Ashley Yang, sophomores Mia Hsu and Samantha Marsee and senior Diana Piovanetti will try and break the logjam and enter the lineup in 2024-25.

Three NCAA regional qualifiers are back in the foil lineup – seniors Renata Chusid and Rei Weintraub and junior Mia Jo. Chusid has qualified for regionals each season with an NCAA nationals appearance in 2022. Weintraub, meanwhile, sports an impressive 130-54 career record and is a two-time NCAA regionals qualifier. Sophomore Brianna Lee made an appearance at the Ivy championships and posted a 33-14 overall record in her rookie season. Sophomore Sumajja Denysiuk and freshmen Rachel Li and Natalie Yeung will also push for time.

Cornell will have its first opportunity to show its growth from a season ago when it competes at the Drew Invitational on Sunday, Nov. 3 with its first match at 10:15 a.m. against Wheaton College.