Fencing falls at Harvard Multi-Meet

On Sunday, Nov. 29, the Vassar men's and women's fencing teams found themselves in Cambridge for the Harvard Multi-Meet. Despite a combined record of 1-11 over the course of the tournament, there were certainly bright spots for the Brewers.

The lone victory of the afternoon came for the men's squad in a 14-13 decision over Sacred Heart University. The men's team dropped matches to the University of North Carolina (UNC), Princeton University, New York University, Penn State University and host Harvard University.
Although the team concluded the afternoon with a record of 1-5, Vassar boasted a number of accomplishments in the meet. Last year, Vassar lost to Harvard by a score of 21-6 and to Princeton with a score of 22-5; this year, the Brewers improved against both schools, tallying seven individual victories against each.

Two victorious Brewers finished the day with winning records. Senior captain John Rothman went 6-5 in the sabre, while teammate junior Andrew Fischl achieved an 11-7 record also in the sabre. Fischl managed two victories against UNC, Princeton and 11-time NCAA National Champion Penn State. He also had a perfect 3-0 record in the Sacred Heart victory.

While the women's fencing team was not able to pull off any team victories, they, too, had numerous accomplishments of which to be proud. Junior Sophie Courser went 13-1 in the epee, while freshmen Caitlin Clevenger and Katie LeClair also turned in solid records at the end of the day.

Courser finished off opponents in undefeated matches and went 3-0 in the majority of her matches. Perhaps the highlight of the day for Vassar, other than Courser's consistently strong performances, was LeClair's 2-1 mark against defending NCAA National Champion Penn State.

Currently, the men's team holds a winning record of 9-5, while the
women's team sits at 6-9. Both fencing teams will pause for winter break and return a tad early as they face Yale University on Monday, Jan. 18.