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Over break they came, they saw, and they conquered. 
The Brandeis University men's and women's fencing teams emerged victorious at the New England Collegiate Championships, a meet between non-Ivy league schools in Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York. They competed against rivals such as Sacred Heart University, Boston College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and other challenging teams such as Vassar College, Tufts University and University of Massachusetts, Amherst. 
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In the meet, each fencer competes in a round robin pool. The top fencers go onto another round of a six-person pool. The wins and losses in this pool determine each fencer's seed in yet another round robin pool. An athlete's performance in the final round determines who wins the tournament individually, while the team performance is based on the amount of wins gathered by each athlete representing their school. 
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Overall, the men totaled 89 wins between the three weapons, which was 10 more than second-place Sacred Heart's total. Meanwhile, the women compiled 107 points, which was just good enough to edge Boston College's 105 points for the title.
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The men's saber squad put on a show to write home about. A trio of sophomores, the saber specialists won 33 matches and only lost once combined. Individually, Ben Loft '15 and Adam Mandel '15 went undefeated. Even though Jess Ochs-Willard '15 was the only Judge to suffer a loss, he still finished second overall. Mandel finished first while Loft took sixth.
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The men's foil team also had an impressive showing, combining for 31 wins and just three losses between them. Just like their saber teammates, the foilers are also comprised of exciting fencers: Ethan Levy '15, Julian Cardillo '14 and Noah Berman '15. Cardillo and Berman made it to the final pool, finishing in first and second, respectively.
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The men's saber and men's foil teams were the keys to Brandeis's success, but the men's epee still needed to chime in in order to ensure the victory. The men's epee came in third overall, and nobody made it to the final round despite putting together a solid amount of wins: 25.
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"Our youth is a huge benefit-younger fencers don't get caught up in preconceptions," said Ochs-Willard. They fight as hard as they can, no matter if their opponent is from a club team or from a team that sends fencers to NCAA Championships every year."
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The women's battle was much closer. Given that Boston College was on its tail the entire way, each match was more important.
The foil team was the cornerstone to Saturday's victory, winning 40 matches and losing only three. Just like their male counterparts, the women foilers are also young and exciting to watch. 
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But while the men are sophomores, these women are just first-years: Caroline Mattos '16, Emilia Dwyer '16, and Annie Kim '16 all performed exceptionally last Saturday. While Dwyer and Kim suffered just one and two losses respectively, Mattos went undefeated and came in second overall. Dwyer and Kim came in eighth and ninth respectively.
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The women's saber and women's epee teams did just enough to help edge their opponents. While the saberists won 32 matches and lost 10, the epee women won 35 matches and lost eight. Zoe Messinger '13, who came in sixth place overall, was the anchor of the saber squad, helping out teammates Emmily Smith '13 and Deborarh Abiri '16. Similarly, Gwen Mowell '16 went undefeated to help guide the women's epee to an impressive 35 wins.
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This victory will pay dividends in preparation for the NCAA East Regional Collegiate Championships at St. John's University.