The University of Notre Dame Debate Team finished its season eighth in the country following the National Parliamentary Debate Association (NPDA) Tournament of Champions at Portland State University.p. The senior pairing of Maureen Gottlieb from Holland, Mich., and Victoria Fetterman from Alexandria, Va., surpassed its best and the team’s best national finish by competing in the quarter final round ? the equivalent of the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight. There the Irish debaters were defeated by the eventual national champions from the University of Wyoming.p. Freshmen Tim Fiorta of Mentor, Ohio, and Mike Subialka of Monument, Colo., reached the top 32 ? falling to fourth-seeded Lewis&Clark College.p. It was a bittersweet end for the Irish debaters, who enjoyed one of the most successful runs since the team’s assembly in the 1940s.p. “I am elated at our team’s incredible accomplishments,” said coach Kate Huetteman, a second-year Notre Dame law student. “We won three regional tournaments, qualified two teams for the National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence, and broke three teams into the elimination rounds at the Tournament of Champions. I’m also very excited by the stellar performances of our younger debaters, which I see as a foundation for greater triumphs in the years to come.”p.
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