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University of Pennsylvania Athletics

2019-20 Women's Fencing

Nicole Vaiani

  • Class Senior
  • Highschool Ranney School
  • Hometown Wall, N.J.

Biography

2019-20: Team co-captain … Second-team All-Ivy … Appeared in 34 of 41 team bouts with women’s foil, going 47-29 … Recorded 40-win seasons each of her four years at Penn … Opened the season going 4-6 at the Elite Invitational (11/16) … Turned in a strong performance at the Penn State Invitational, going 12-4 and sweeping North Carolina and the host Nittany Lions (1/12) … Went 10-8 at the Philadelphia Invitational, including three wins against ranked opponents (1/18 & 1/19) … Recorded a 6-1 showing at the Sollee Invitational, sweeping Brandeis (2/1) … Rode sweeps of #2 Columbia and Brown to a 10-5 record and All-Ivy honors at the Ivy League Round-Robins (2/8 & 2/9) … Tallied 200th career victory against St. John’s and went 2-1 against #1 Princeton at the Temple Invitational (2/23) … Finished 22nd at the NCAA Regional (3/7) … Ended her career with a 202-81 record, becoming just the second Penn fencer this decade to hit 200 career victories (Stephanie Wolf, 214 from 2015-18).

2018-19: Captain of the foil squad ... Academic All-Ivy ... Finished seventh at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic/South regional ... Finished 14th at the NCAA championships ... Helped the Quakers to a top-3 finish at the Ivy League championships ... Led the foil squad with 42-23 record ... Went 13-5 at the Philadelphia Invitational ... Posted 3-0 marks against Haverford (1/13), Duke (1/20), NYU (1/20), Cornell (2/9). 

2017-18: Helped team to fourth place finish at the Ivy Championships ... Finished fourth at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic/South Regional ... Earned 9th place finish at NCAA Championships ... Honorable Mention All-American ... Earned 100th career win against Yale at the Ivy Championships ... Had a team best 79% win percentage ... Went 15-1 at the Philadelphia Invitational. 

2016-17: Third-team All-America … Second-team All-Ivy (fourth-place on foil) … Placed fourth at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional (March 11) … Tallied a 49-12 record in dual matches … Registered an 11-3 mark at the Elite Invitational (Nov. 5) … Finished third at the Penn State Open (Nov. 19) … Put together a 10-2 mark at the Philadelphia Invitational (Jan. 21) … Also went 10-2 at the Northwestern Duals (Feb. 4). 

High School: Four-year fencing letterman … Team captain … Two-time State Individual Champion (2013, 2016) … Four-time Prep State Individual Champion (2013-16) … Part of three foil squads that won Prep State titles … Voted as Team MVP all four seasons … Cum Laude Society … Scholar Athlete Award (top honors) … Member of the National Society of High School Scholars.

Personal: Daughter of JoAnn and Michael Vaiani … Brother, John, competed on the men’s fencing team at Penn … Enrolled in the Wharton School of Business.
 

Career Statistics
Year W-L Pct. 
2016-17 49-12 .803
2017-18 64-17 .790
2018-19 42-23 .646
2019-20 47-29 .618
Career 202-81 .714


Historical Player Information

  • 2016-17Freshman

    Foil
  • 2017-18Sophomore

    Foil
  • 2018-19Junior

    Foil
  • 2019-20Senior

    Foil