The Brandeis fencing teams were on the road this week as the women’s team competed at Wellesley College on Wednesday and both women’s and men’s teams made their way to Brown University on Saturday for their second Northeast Fencing Conference meet of the season. Both teams performed at a high level and move forward into the final stretch of the season with well-deserved confidence. 

At Wellesley, the women defeated their rival 16-11, led by victories in foil and epee. Foil fencers Jessica Gets ’20, Joanne Carminucci ’19 and Chaya Schapiro ’17 were standout performers, pacing Brandeis foil to a 7-2 victory over their Wellesley opponents. Epee also won their weapon category, doing so by a comfortable 6-3 margin. Despite the final result, the outcome was not always certain. Needing only one bout win to secure the victory and prevent Wellesley from a 3-0 run to take the match, Brandeis’ Savannah Bishop ’17 stepped up and defeated her opponent, ending the suspense. This was the Brandeis women’s second match win this regular season against Wellesley. 

Continuing their winning ways, the Brandeis women once again returned from competition with great success, compiling a 4-1 overall record in the Northeast Fencing Conference meet on Saturday. This included dominant wins against Vassar College (20-7) and Dartmouth College (17-10), accompanied by nail-biters against Tufts University (14-13) and Brown University (15-12), with their sole loss coming against Boston College (11-16). 

Women’s foil once again held strong, propelling the team to their victories against Tufts and Brown with consecutive 7-2 bout records, marking an incredible overall 5-0 day for foil. “I think some of the team’s success can be attributed to the momentum from having won last year’s title, as well as the dedication and enthusiasm that both new and old members bring to the team,” said Carminucci.  

The men’s fencing team also had great success in Rhode Island, sweeping their way through the meet with an impressive 5-0 record. This was their second time this season coming out on top over their conference competition, as they also ran through the first meet of the Northeast Fencing Conference undefeated in November. Like the women’s team, these victories included a combination of landslides, such as their 25-2 and 23-4 routs over Dartmouth and Tufts, respectively, as well as close calls in the form of 15-12 wins over Vassar and Boston College and a 14-13 defeat of Brown. First, against Brown, men’s sabre broke the 9-9 tie after Brandeis took a 7-2 lead with foil answered by Brown’s own 7-2 win with epee. Led by the bout of victories by Kyle Berney ’18 and Curtis Wilson ’18, men’s sabre was able to come back from a 3-4 deficit to take the 5-4 sabre lead and, in turn, the 14-13 match win. After taking foil 7-2 and dropping epee by the same margin, men’s saber once again closed out the match, winning their bouts with a record of 6-3 for the 15-12 win. “We were mentally well-prepared for the tough matches,” Wilson said. “I think that the whole team was pumped by the climactic ending to our match with Brown, helping in the final match with BC.”