Notre Dame Wins Inaugural Women's Three-Weapon NCAA Team Title
Published
Notre Dame won the inaugural NCAA women's three-weapon team championship in South Bend, edging Columbia 102–99 in the first year that men's and women's team titles were scored separately.
Notre Dame won the inaugural NCAA women's three-weapon team championship in South Bend, edging Columbia 102–99 in the first year that men's and women's team titles were scored separately.
Final team standings
- Notre Dame — 102
- Columbia — 99
- Princeton — 71
- Harvard — 69
A three-point margin across three weapons and dozens of bouts is about as close as a team championship gets.
Why this title is a first
The women's team championship has changed shape twice. Before 1990, the NCAA awarded a women's foil-only team title. From 1990 through 2025, there was a single combined team champion counting men's and women's results together. The 2026 championships were the first to crown a standalone women's three-weapon team champion — a format that lets women's programs be judged on their own results.
Individual champions
- Women's Epee — Eszter Muhari (Notre Dame), who defended her title. It was the third NCAA championship of her four-year career, after 2023 and 2025. She is from Budapest.
- Women's Foil — Jessica Guo (Harvard)
- Women's Saber — Natalia Botello (Ohio State)
How the scoring works
Team points come from wins in five-touch bouts fenced across the field. The top four fencers per weapon then advance to a 15-touch bracket — semifinals and a final — to decide the individual titles. It means a fencer's five-touch consistency feeds the team result, while the individual medal is settled at full bout length.
For a family new to collegiate fencing, that structure explains why college coaches value reliability so highly: a fencer who wins most five-touch bouts contributes to a team title even without reaching an individual final.
Related reading on Saber Nation
- Notre Dame wins the men's NCAA team title
- 2026 NCAA Championships preview
- All USA Fencing news for saber fencers
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Official USA Fencing source: Notre Dame Wins Inaugural Women's Three-Weapon NCAA Team Title — published March 20, 2026.
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