Despite strong opponents and many injuries, the Brandeis fencing teams persevered to win multiple games in the MIT/Brandeis Invitational in Cambridge this Sunday. A slew of minor injuries have made this season especially difficult for both the men's and women's teams. "There are a lot of injured people," Liesse-Marie Slemon '07 said. Slemon herself has been out all year with a knee injury.

"Last year we were the best Division-III school and beat a lot of Division-I schools," she said. "The women beat Brown and Harvard, and the boys beat Dartmouth."

Despite injuries, the Judges proved they still have what it takes to challenge good teams.

The men defeated three out of the five teams in the meet. They easily ousted Yeshiva University 21-6 and topped University of North Carolina 16-11 and New York University by a score of 14-13.

However, the Judges lost to Duke University and the University of Pennsylvania, each in a close one-touch overtime decision, dropping both matches by a score of 14-13.

The women's team beat two out of five schools in the meet, defeating Cornell University 14-13 and UNC 14-13, but UPenn annihilated the women's team in a 23-4 blowout. The women also lost to Duke 18-9 and to NYU 21-6.

"This day had more close meets than I ever remember," Coach Bill Shipman said. "Five meets of 10 came down to the last bout, which is more drama than any coach should endure in one day."

"We won against Cornell and UNC, the closest teams in terms of skill level," Deborah Model '06 said. "Due to injuries we were down to the core of the team, meaning there were only three people to a weapon making for a very long day. We were looking to beat them and we did in the end."

The men's team had a very exciting meet overall with several extremely close bouts against strong opponents. The Judges dropped the match against UPenn after foilist Eugene Vortsman '08 tied the match 13-13 in an extremely close round.

The strong foil squad dropped bouts against Duke and UPenn which were a huge blow to Brandeis. The Judges also lost to the Duke epee squad 5-4.

The men's NYU bout was perhaps the most exciting of all. Brandeis needed all three victories to beat the Violets in the last round of foil fencing. Benji Rostoker '05 and Kristian Cardillo '06 won the first two bouts by a narrow margin, leaving the win up to Vortsman in the final match.

The match reached a 4-4 draw when an NYU fencer made an illegal attack and was issued a red card for covering the target, lifting the Judges over the Violets for the first time since the 1980's.

"It was the most intense match against NYU that I have ever seen," Rostoker said. "That match made the strength of our team really evident. The fact that we could hold our own with Duke, NYU and UPenn, teams that in the past have just rolled over us at times, says volumes about how strong the team has become. Overall it was the most interesting meet we've had and the most exciting meet I've had in four years at Brandeis."

The tournament itself was a chance for the fencing team to play schools outside of the region. MIT and Brandeis work together every year to host the meet so that schools from outside the Boston area can assemble for competition.

Both the men's and women's teams next face off on Feb. 18 when they travel to Arlington, Texas for the U.S. Junior Olympic Championships.