NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Last week, sophomore fencing standout Laura Fekete traveled to Notre Dame to take on the best of the best, competing against a field of twenty-three competitors in the women's épée event at the NCAA Fencing Championships and came out of the event with a bronze medal, finishing tied for third overall in the country. 
 
With her finish, Laura earns First-Team All-American honors for the second consecutive season. 

"Coach Smith and I are extremely proud of Laura," said Head Coach Ivan Lee. "She battled a host of injuries all season long, and entered a much stronger field this year, yet continued to show the nation that she is a legitimate top tier Epee fencer."
 
On Thursday, Laura began fencing in a pool of 24, battling it out as the competition narrowed down to the final four. In the first round, she finished with six wins and a third place spot. After two more rounds on day one, Laura dropped to fifth going into the second day, sitting behind Princeton's Jessica Lin by only a few touches.

Going into Friday, Laura would need to win out, and need some help as well. After the fourth round, Laura still sat in fifth place, but would need to win more bouts than Lin to pass her. In the last round, Laura won three bouts to Lin's two, giving Laura a total of 16 wins, and the fourth spot in the Final Four. 
 
The direct elimination Final Four bouts took place on Friday afternoon, with Laura taking on the top seeded Kaylin Hsieh. This was a rematch of last year's championship bout, a bout that Laura won 14-13 in overtime. Laura gave her all, putting up a battle against the Notre Dame sophomore before ultimately falling 15-10. Hsieh would then go on to defeat No. 2 Emily Vermeule from Harvard 15-10 to claim the national title. Laura and Kateryna Chorniy of Penn State University finished tied for third. 

"Laura represents the very best of student-athlete achievement at LIU as she is accomplished and tremendously successful on the strip and in the classroom," said Deputy Director of Athletics Paul McCarthy. "We are so proud of Laura for another amazing season and we look forward to watching her continue to succeed in all of her pursuits at LIU."