The Brandeis men’s and women’s fencing teams participated in their first meet of the season this past weekend. The teams traveled west to Northampton, Massachusetts to take part in the New England Intercollegiate Fencing Conference Fall Invitational, also known as "The Big One." Each team had one of their top fencers defending their titles with the foil weapon. Here is how the Judges fared in their first meet of the new season. 

Women’s Team

Joanne Carminucci ’19 earned herself a fourth seed in the direct elimination tournament after posting an impressive 5-0 record in the preliminary rounds. She received just four touches and her margin of victory was a staggering +21. In the tournament, she showed no signs of slowing down. In the first round, she quickly dispensed a fencer from Vassar College 15-1. A short while later, she defeated an opponent from the University of Massachusetts, 15-3. She then faced two straight fencers from Boston College in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds. She quickly defeated them 15-6 and then 15-8, respectively, to advance to the final round. In that round, she faced her hardest test yet. The top seeded fencer in her bracket was from Dartmouth University and had been making similarly quick work of her opponents. However, she was no match for Carminucci, who defeated her 15-9 to capture her second straight crown with the foil. 

Before losing to Carminucci, the top seeded foil fencer faced another opponent from Brandeis, Jessica Gets ’20. Gets also went undefeated in the preliminary rounds to earn the sixth seed. She defeated two of her teammates before falling to her opponent from Dartmouth in the semifinals. This strong performance earned her a bronze medal. 

Meanwhile, in saber action, Jada Harrison was given a fifth seed after an impressive 6-0 performance in the prelims. She quickly beat opponents from Smith College and Worcester Polytechnic Institute  the first two rounds. Her quarterfinals bout was a battle, but she eventually pulled away and won 15-13. She would lose in the semifinal round to a fencer from Sacred Heart University, but her effort would be enough to earn her the bronze medal for her weapon. 

Men’s Team

Ian Quin ’20 was one of ten undefeated fencers in the men's foil preliminary round. His +18 indicator earned him a sixth seed for the direct elimination tournament. In the first round, he took on an opponent from UMass and made quick work of him, dominating the match 15-1. He then took on an opponent from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It took a little bit longer, but Quin won again, this time by a score of 15-7. As Quin advanced further, his opponents got tougher and tougher and began to put up more of a fight. But Quin prevailed nonetheless, defeating a fencer from Sacred Heart University 15-10 in the next round. In the quarterfinal round, Quin matched up against the third seed in this tournament. Hailing from Boston College, he put up the best fight Quin had seen up to this point. In a marathon set, Quin eventually won 15-14 in the closest bout of the match. In the semifinals, Quin took on a fencer from MIT and won 15-9 to move on to the final. In the final, he took on another fencer from BC and won again by a score of 15-9 to defend his title. Tristan Barca-Hall ’21 also performed well in foil, claiming sixth place overall. 

The fencing season will rage from now until March. Fencers from each weapon — foil, epee and sabre — aim  to improve their craft and to bring Brandeis its third straight conference championship. In addition, top fencers from both the men’s and women’s team will try to garner national attention and eventually compete in the NCAA national championship at the end of the season.  

Catch the fencing team next when they compete in the Northeast Conference Meet no. 1 hosted by MIT on Nov. 17.