COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Sophomore epee athlete Ketki Ketkar led the way for the Cornell fencing team on day one of the 2024 NC Fencing Championships, sitting second overall with the weapon after three rounds of competition from the French Field House.

The sophomore ripped through the competition during the first round Thursday, going 6-1 in her pool, with her lone loss coming in a 5-3 decision to Harvard's Emily Vermeule. Ketkar did have to grind out some victories in the first pool, including nail-biting 4-3 decisions over Ivy rivals Isabella Chin of Harvard and Grace Hu of Yale. The first team All-Ivy selection matched up against two fencers each from Air Force and Penn State and kept the train rolling, posting a 3-1 record, with the lone defeat coming at the hands of Jocelyn Khrol of the Nittany Lions. Ketkar would split her final four bouts in the third and final round for the day, earning both wins over Ohio State fencers in Yeva Mazur (5-2) and Montserrat Viveros. Overall, the sophomore has a +11 touch differential and is tied with Vermeule for the most wins so far at the NC Fencing Championships with eleven.

Shifting to sabre, Isabela Carvalho currently sits in 12th place after a strong showing in the first three rounds of competition. Carvalho would post a 4-3 record over the first round of competition, picking up wins over teammate Stella Berman (5-4), Princeton's Alexandra Lee (5-3), Princeton's Ryan Jenkins (5-3), and Columbia's Tamar Gordon (Columbia). The freshman stepped it up in round two of competition, outtouching her opponents by a combined 15-14 margin to secure a 3-1 spot. Her lone loss came in a 5-0 decision against North Carolina's Sophia Kovacs. Shifting into the third round, Carvalho opened up her first two bouts with a split, securing a 5-1 victory over Northwestern's Levi Hoogendoorn before falling 5-2 to fellow Ivy League fencer in Sydney Hirsch of Yale. The luck unfortunately did not continue for Carvalho, as she lost her final two bouts in separate 5-3 scores against Northwestern's Megumi Oishi and Brandeis' Maggie Shealy to finish the first day of competition winning eight of her 15 bouts and posting a -3 touch difference.

Senior Stella Berman rounds out the three Big Red fencers competing on the strip in 21st place. Berman struggled in the opening round, going 1-6 with her lone win coming over Columbia's Vera Kong (5-3). The next round did not come easy for the senior, as she posted a 1-3 record, with the win coming in her final bout of the round in a 5-4 decision over St. John's Julia Cieslar. Despite the tough start, Berman turned it around in the final round of the day by earning three victories over Levi Hoogendoorn (5-1), Megumi Oishi (5-3), and Maggie Shealy (5-4) to close out day one with a 5-10 record and a -18 touch difference.

Day two of competition begins at 9 a.m. Friday with the final two rounds of round-robin competition from the French Field House. The top four performing fencers for each weapon will then move on to the semifinals, set to begin at 1:30 p.m. and consist of 15-touch bouts. Live streaming of the semifinals and finals will be available on ESPN+.