Transitioning into a new place, let alone a new country, is hard when knowing you have to say goodbye in just a year. Still, senior Maria Alvim conquered that feat while dominating her competition and making history as the first female fencer at SHU in seven years to qualify for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament.
Alvim comes from Lisbon, Portugal. Her journey starts there, where she was a very successful fencer, and she was put into contact with SHU through her agent.
“I can tell from the video that she understood what fencing was and had a very good foundation,” said Head Coach Khristopher White. “She shows up every day and works hard.”
Source: Instagram, @shufencing
When Alvim first arrived at SHU, she struggled to adjust to a new system, learning to navigate a different competition format and team dynamic, but was able to figure it out quickly with help from her teammates
“It was very different in the beginning because it is a whole new type of competition. It is just a different format,” said Alvim. “It took me a while to get it, and it was stressful, but I realized that the team support really helped me get through all the stress and fear that I had before competitions.”
In her time since she arrived, Alvim has worked hard and reaped the benefits of that work. This year, she was a top-20 finisher at the NCAA Regionals, a 18-1 overall record in epee, which put her en route to an Northeast Fencing Conference (NFC) Championship and earned her First Team All-Conference Honors.
She is a fierce competitor in her fencing kit, but away from it, she is also a phenomenal student and teammate.
“Maria is extremely hard working in all aspects of her life and down to earth,” said Alvim’s teammate Nadia Gaberkorn. “She is the type of person that will take the time to sit with you no matter how busy she is.”
Alvim was really excited to showcase her talent on the highest stage and took it as a second chance to make the most of her collegiate career.
“I went to regionals, and at some point, both my coach and I believed I wasn’t able to qualify in terms of points, and I was really sad my season was over. But when I got the news that I qualified, it felt like a second chance to actually make the most of it,” said Alvim.
As for expectations of the NCAA’s, she is no stranger to pressure on the highest stage.
“I really don’t know what to expect, but I know what it is like to fence at the highest stages, and I know there is a lot of pressure,” said Alvim. “I am really just going to try and enjoy everything and set my goal to finish as high as possible and end the year as high as I can nationally.”
Alvim headed to Penn State Multi-Sport Facility in University Park, Penn., from March 20-23 and competed with the top 144 fencers from around the country. Alvin began the competition on Saturday at 9 a.m., with the first three rounds taking place, and finished off on Sunday with rounds four and five also at 9 a.m.
Alvim finished the first round with three victories in six matches. In those matches she had 20 touches scored and only 17 touches received giving her a plus three indicator. This had her seeded 16th out of 21 total that advanced to the second round.
In the second round, Alvim had two victories in six matches with an indicator of negative seven, placing her in 19th out of the remaining 21 fencers. With this finish, she was eliminated, ending her phenomenal season.
Sacred Heart Athletics contributed to this article.
