Northwestern fencer Kristen Dorf is a study in contradictions.

It isn’t her fencing results that are the problem, though. The junior foil team captain wins consistently for the Wildcats: She went 15-1 in the first round of the NU Duals last week and has 199 career wins entering this season — good for ninth all-time at NU.

No, the trouble stems from Dorf’s knitting.

She is an accomplished knitter who can make a fine scarf. Her friends have been known to call her “Grandma.”

But what grandmotherly knitter also has the nickname “Bruiser” for her attacking style of fencing?

“If you’re not aggressive, people are going to run you over,” Dorf said. “I’ve always fenced aggressively.”

Dorf, who stands 5-foot-4, looks short on aggression. A bout against her proves otherwise: Opponents on the other side of the foil wouldn’t exactly call her a grandma.

But Dorf didn’t get there overnight. She has had a lot of practice.

It all started for Dorf in high school. Besides participating in fencing, an individual sport, she also played soccer, an extremely team-oriented sport. She then went abroad as a high school junior, living in Germany for an entire year.

While enjoying the time she spent overseas, Dorf also used it to her advantage.

“I got the opportunity to fence in some World Cups,” Dorf said. “I knew I was going to get my butt kicked, but it was a great experience. I learned a lot.”

After returning to the States, Dorf got a scholarship to fence at NU, where she continues with her contradictions.

For instance: Fencing is not a sport dependent on team unity, but as foil captain Dorf has brought her squad together.

“Kristen is a great teammate,” fellow foil fencer Maggie Kebrdle said. “She maintains the team atmosphere.”

In addition to encouraging team unity, Dorf is a great leader. At last weekend’s NU Duals, she captained the foil squad to its first-ever victory over Temple.

With the match tied 4-4, she stepped up and won the final bout to give the squad a 5-4 victory.

“This weekend was big,” she said. “It’s nice to come away and say we won this time.”

Dorf is a leader who takes an unconventional path — she has been known to randomly dance around the gym, Kebrdle said.

When she takes up the steel, however, Dorf prefers to yell.

“She shrieks,” Kebrdle said. “If she is not going to hit them, she is at least going to scare them.”

Loud shrieks and all, it will be up to Dorf and the foil squad to lead the Cats on Saturday at Patten Gym in the second half of the NU Duals.

NU will try to continue its 29-game winning streak this weekend. But that task won’t be easy — the Cats trade parries with No. 7 Notre Dame, their top competitor for the Midwest Conference championship and supremacy in the region.

But with Dorf on the squad, NU can put its mind at ease. She may have traits that seem to be at odds, but Dorf consistently finds success in whatever she does.

Said senior co-captain Meghan Gaseor: “Whether she has gone through a bout and fenced well or finished a scarf, she always has something to show for her accomplishments.”