STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Brandeis University junior saber fencer Lev BenAvram (Bethesda, Md./Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School) won nine of his 15 matches on the first day of action at the NCAA National Collegiate Fencing Championships at Penn State University, placing him in 10^th place after three rounds.
 
BenAvram started his day by winning five of his seven bouts in the first round. He defeated opponents from Princeton, North Carolina and Long Island University, while splitting his two bouts against fencers from the University of Pennsylvania and St. John's University.
 
He opened the second round with a 5-2 win over Neil Lilov of Penn State before dropping three-straight matches against a second Penn State foe and two opponents from Notre Dame who sat 1^st and 4^th in the standings at the end of the day.
 
BenAvram dropped his fourth-straight match with a 5-4 defeat against an opponent from Wagner College before rallying to win his last three matches of the day over Wayne State and a pair from Lawrence University.
 
BenAvram is tied with four other fencers who have nine wins each, putting him just two wins out of a spot in the top four, but his +3 indicator – margin of victory – is behind the others tied at 9-6.
 
BenAvram is making his second trip to the NCAA Championships after finishing 11^th in the Northeast Region. He placed 16^th as a first-year in 2023 when he won 10 bouts.
 
He will be back in action tomorrow starting at 9 a.m. BenAvram will face fencers from Harvard, Yale, and Columbia in the fourth round of action and Stanford, Incarnate Word, and Ohio State in the fifth.