Ashley Serrette Class: Junior Hometown: Orange, NJ High School: Oak Knoll Height: 5-4 Event: Sabre Birthdate: 06/13/1987

2007 NCAA Participant
Women's Sabre Team Captain

Clever third-year fencer who gained valuable experience as a participant in the 2007 NCAAs ... a very mature individual and serious student who will serve as Notre Dame's women's sabre captain in the 2007-08 season ... boasts great reaction time, accelerated actions and ability to effectively read opponent's actions ... fairly new to fencing but has quickly learned sophisticated aspects of the sport ... team-oriented fencer who quickly becomes a fighter on the strip ... can quickly integrate new actions into her fencing, despite limited experience and lack of year-round training ... a key to her junior season could be proper tactical use of various actions on the fencing strip ... also looking to continue making strides in technical knowledge and athletic training ... has posted top two season win totals in Notre Dame women's sabre history, giving her a 118-47 career record heading into 2008 ... one of 86 all-time New Jersey natives to compete with Notre Dame fencing ... compiled 3.09 GPA during her freshman year.

AS A SOPHOMORE: Went 61-22 to break her own Notre Dame record for regular-season wins in women's sabre ... went on to place seventh in the conference tournament, sixth at the Midwest Regional and 16th at the NCAAs ... opened 17-7 at ND Duals before going 7-11 at NYU Duals, with key 5-3 win over Adrienne Shon to help Irish women edge #5 Northwestern (14-13) ... added 9-0 record at Midwest Duals (at ND) and 10-2 at Duke Duals before closing with 18-2 mark at Northwestern Duals, where she topped Northwestern's Mai Vu (5-4) and posted pair of wins over Penn State (5-1 vs. Laura Hillstrom; 5-3 vs. Stephanie Herbert) ... placed seventh at the annual Midwest Fencing Conference Championships, after 8-15 loss to Ohio State's Eileen Grench ... came back the next day to post wins over Grench (5-3) and her OSU teammate Syvenna Siebert (5-1) in MFC team event (the Buckeyes held on for 5-4 semifinal win) ... won several key bouts for 6th-place finish at NCAA Midwest Regional (at ND), helping earn her a spot in the NCAA field ... entered Regional as #8 seed and was #7 after pool bouts, followed by 15-9 win over NU's Shon, a loss to Grench (9-15), a 15-11 win over Wayne State's Ann Bartoszewicz, another loss to Grench (5-15; round-of-8), narrow win over NU's Vu (14-15) and loss to WSU's Kasia Kuzniak in 5th-place bout (12-15) ... went 5-9 on first day at NCAAs (held in Madison, N.J.), with impressive 5-4 win over St. John's freshman Dagmara Wozniak (one of nation's top-ranked young sabreists) while also shutting out Stanford's Eva Jellison and beating WSU's Kuzniak (5-2) ... her 9-14 final NCAA record (16th) included day-2 sweep of Penn's Cassandra Partyka (5-3) and Alexis Baran (5-2) ... improved on her #32 seed by placing 21st at Penn State Open in fall of '06 (her wins included 5-4 bout with Partyka, a 2006 NCAA participant).

AS A FRESHMAN: Set Notre Dame record for regular-season women's sabre wins (57-25) before finishing eighth at MFCs and 11th at Regional ... received ND fencing team's Yves Auriol Award ("most improved") ... opened 10-8 at Northwestern Duals, with top wins over NU's Vu and Emily Pasternak (both 5-2) ... all of her losses at NYU Duals (7-4) came to top fencers ... her 17-5 record at ND Duals included wins over Ibtihaj Muhammad (5-4) and Annie Massert (5-3), as part of sabre team's 5-4 win over Duke ... closed 14-1 at OSU Duals and 9-7 at UC San Diego Duals ... lost to Vu in MFC quarterfinals (11-15) ... seeded 13th for Regional (in Cleveland) and earned spot in direct-elimination (#11 seed) before finishing 11th, after losses to OSU's Siebert (8-15) and Northwestern's Gina Annunziato (10-15) ... placed 16th at Northwestern Open in fall of 2005 ... finished 49th in U-19 bouts at 2006 Summer Nationals (in Atlanta).

PREP & PERSONAL: Lettered three years on Oak Knoll School fencing team (coached by John Johnson) ... won fencing district title and qualified for Jr. Olympics in junior year ... team MVP and all-state as senior (27-4 in dual meets) ... claimed state prep title for 2003-04 sabre season ... helped Oak Knoll win state titles in '03 and '05, also leading sabre squad to district and state titles in '04 and '05 ... member of sabre team that took third in state ... named sabre MVP as a junior ... honored as varsity's most outstanding first-year fencer as a sophomore ... JV team MVP as a freshman ... four-year letterwinner as soccer midifelder at Oak Knoll, also lettering as a sophomore on track team (200 meters) ... involved in student government ... full name is Ashley Tanisha Serrette ... daughter of Arnold and Genevieve Serrette ... born June 13, 1987, in Livingston, N.J. ... a pre-professional studies major, in the College of Science.