Pitted against familiar and formidable foes Saturday in the Northeast Conference Meet at Brown University, the men's and women's fencing teams both registered impressive performances. The men went 6-0 to clinch the conference championship, finishing league play this season with a perfect 10-0 record. The women had a 5-1 record at the meet."We've had a couple of down seasons where we took a couple of teams for granted, but [this year] we lived up to expectations," saber Isaac Liberman '07 said.

The men's team outscored its opponents 124-38, including a 25-2 rout of Sacred Heart University and 24-3 annihilations of Dartmouth College and the University of Florida, the only non-conference opponent.

"It's one thing to go undefeated in the conference, but it's another to dominate [like we did]," added captain Brendan Doris-Pierce '07.

Isaac Liberman '07 and Doris-Pierce went 13-4 and 12-4, respectively, in saber; Damien Lehfeldt '09 had a 10-1 record in epee, and substitute Mike Mello '07 was 6-1 In foil.

"We were well-balanced," coach Bill Shipman said. "It was the best fencing we've seen this season."

The Judges' toughest match of the meet was a 16-11 victory over host Brown, one of Brandeis' biggest fencing rivals. Brown's fencers taunted several Brandeis fencers during the match.

"It made us want to win even more and beat them in their building," Doris-Pierce said. "It's very satisfying to win when [the opposition] calls you out and then you get to shove it down their throats."

Boston College gave the Judges their toughest run in the day, with Brandeis having to overcome an early deficit before winning 18-9.

Endurance was key for the saber team Saturday, as only three fencers competed throughout the course of the six matches. Along with Doris-Pierce and Liberman, rookie Naveen George '10 was instrumental to the Judges' success.

"It's nice to have a freshman you can count on," Liberman said. "[George] is someone you can pass the torch onto next year."

The women's team's lone loss was a 15-12 defeat against Brown. In their five victories, the Judges outscored their opponents by a combined 89-46, including two 20-7 thrashings over MIT and Dartmouth.

"A bunch of new freshmen were able to do well against [difficult competition]," foil Stefanie Aucoin '08 said.

Individually, foil Chantal Dewey '07 finished with a 10-1 mark. Aucoin and saber Kirsten Heinz '09, who both studied abroad last semester, both regained their rhythm at the meet, registering 11-1 and 9-2 wins, respectively.

"It's one of the first competition settings I've been in this year," Aucoin said. "It's a hard transition [back], but I feel really confident."

The Judges' loss to Brown was the latest in a string of close losses the team has suffered at the hands of the Bears.

"It's totally within our bounds to beat [Brown]," Heinz said. "We need to take all of our bouts more seriously. Every bout counts."

Next week, both squads will compete at the Brandeis/MIT Invitational in Cambridge at 9 a.m. Sunday.