As students settled back into school after winterbreak, the Brandeis men's and women's fencing teams picked up where they left off with outstanding performances last week against several top-ranked colleges.
The men jumped to 11-2 overall and 7-0 in conference play while the women finished the week 13-2, 9-0 in the UAA.
Both teams dueled Yale University at home on Tuesday-the men eventually falling 17-10.
"Their men's team is quite strong, but we thought we'd do better against them in competition, so that was disappointing," said coach Bill Shipman.
Despite the loss to Yale, the team moved into their weekend competition with high expectations, and the results reflected their confidence as the men came away with a 3-0 final score.
The team swept the Northeastern Conference Meet, defeating host, Boston College 16-11, Brown 19-8, and Dartmouth 18-9.
The results demonstrate the well-rounded nature of the team, with each weapons squad contributing to the overall win.
The foil squad was 20-7 in the three matches, led by Kristian Cardillo '06, who made it through the day 6-1. The saber and epee teams finished with 18-9 and 15-12 final scores, both teams led by the stellar play of first years Isaac Liberman and Kai Keller.
The women also turned out an impressive week, narrowly defeating Yale in a 14-13 victory and joining the men in a clean sweep at the Northeastern Conference Meet, finishing with a 4-0 overall score. It was the first time that Brandeis defeated Yale in almost decades. Jessica Lewis-Turner '04 dueled especially well against Yale, winning 2 of her 3 bouts. Lewis-Turner is a three-time UAA champion in the epee, and she is only the second women in conference history to win three straight titles in any weapon.
"She's fencing as well as I've ever seen her-very maturely," Shipman said. "Hopefully she'll keep doing well."
The class of 2007 was again well-represented as first-year Rae Schindler left the competition with a 2-1 record in epee and Liesse Slemon finished undefeated in saber.
The women carried their momentum all the way to Boston College on Saturday where they finished 4-0. The Judges outclassed Boston College (19-8), Dartmouth (16-11) Tufts (22-5), and Brown (20-7).
The women will host Wellesley College on Wednesday at 6:30. Both teams will then host the Brandeis/MIT Invitation this weekend, beginning early Sunday at 9:00 am, where the teams will have a chance to duel several Division I teams.
Shipman foresees, "a little bit tougher day," but anticipates the team will make it through the competition without a hitch. Captain Alexandra Hochster '07 is confident in the ability of the team, but expects a challenging weekend.
"I'm very proud of the women's team's results so far this season, and in particular this past week's performance," Hochster said. "We've been training hard, and although we will face some of our tougher competitors this weekend, I expect the women's team to fence strongly and the team to have positive results.