The unusually large Gossman crowd that gathered for the Brandeis Invitational on Sunday were treated to more than just the men's and women's fencing teams' first home meet of the season. They also got to see some of the best fencers in the region, as the Judges held their own with a bunch of strong performances.The men's team went 2-2, defeating Vassar College 18-9 and Yale University 17-10 but losing to Brown University 14-13 and to St. John's College 16-11.

The women went 1-3, defeating Vassar 21-6 but losing to Brown 16-11, Yale 15-12, and St. John's 21-6.

On the way to the match, assistant coach Elif Sachs was involved in a car accident and was transported to the game by a Waltham police officer (see pg. 15).

The Judges came out stale in their tightly contested loss to Brown, saber team member Isaac Lieberman '07 said.

"We really should have taken it to Brown and beaten them pretty badly, but we didn't get started fast enough and we took them too lightly, so that was a little disappointing," Lieberman said.

Brandeis went on to take consecutive wins against Vassar and Yale before losing their final match to St. John's, who went 4-0 against both the men and the women.

The women's team rebounded after a tough start to post good results in some tight matches, including a close one against Yale University, which featured Olympic bronze medalist Sada Jacobsen.

"We did lose to Yale, but last year, we weren't even that close, and we're fencing them again later on," captain Deb Model '06 said. "I think it's really possible for us to beat them, and we only beat them once every few years."

Liesse Marie-Slemon '07 managed to get three touches on Jacobsen before succumbing 5-3.

Marie-Slemon beamed at the experience of competing with one of the world's best.

"You walk on the strip and you're really anxious," she said. "You have to do it touch-by-touch. You're only going to get better by fencing people like [Jacobsen]. It was really cool."

Coach Bill Shipman said he was satisfied with the performance of the men's team, but acknowledged that they could have done better.

"I'm not too unhappy, but it could have been better with three or four good bouts," he said.

Captain Brendan Doris-Pierce '07 said he was impressed with the performance of the Judges young foil squad, featuring rookies Will Friedman '09, J.D. Carroll '09 and Eugene Vortsman '08.

"It's a credit to our two young freshmen who are filling some very big shoes this year," Doris-Pierce said.

Both the men's and women's teams showed a concerted effort to support their teammates. Doris-Pierce recalled going up against a competitive Yale fencer.

"I'm getting up, and all of a sudden, I hear loud clapping-it was just them being very energetic about the bout," he said. "I go out and I win 5-0."

Coach Elif Sachs acknowledged that the teams have room for improvement.

"There's an edge that some teams have that make them nastier in some ways, and that's the edge it sometimes takes that our kids are still slowly warming up to this year," assistant coach Elif Sachs said."

The Judges next fence against Harvard University this Wednesday.