Rookie epée Emma Larkin '11 arrived at last Saturday's Brandeis and Massachusetts Institute of Technology Invitational weakened by a nasty stomach virus, but that didn't stop her from playing a major role in a key victory for the women's fencing team. With the score tied at 13 in the Judges' match against University Athletic Association rival New York University, Larkin won the decisive bout 5-2 to give the Judges a 14-13 win in their only scheduled meeting against NYU this season. The win, combined with a 19-8 victory over Haverford College and a 16-11 victory over the U.S. Air Force Academy gave the Judges a 3-0 record on the day and improved their overall record to 15-5 this season.

"I just pushed through it," Larkin said of her illness. "I drank a lot of water and ate a lot ice chips and Saltines. I just stuck to simple actions."

Meanwhile, the men's team dropped just their second match of the season, losing 16-11 to NYU. They are now 16-2 this season after an 18-9 win over Haverford and a 16-11 win over Air Force.

The women's team's match against NYU was sharply contested. The Judges won 5-4 in saber, led by two wins apiece from Olivia Etkind '11 and Kiersten Heinz '09, but uncharacteristically fell 5-4 in foil. The match came down to the epée squads, and after the two teams split the first eight bouts, Larkin clinched the victory, winning her third straight individual bout to give the Judges a win over the Violets for the third consecutive season.

"She's been sick all morning, running back and forth between bouts, and yet she won the winning bout," foil Jessica Newhall '09 said of Larkin last Saturday. "She just came through and she was definitely the hero today."

The foil squad made up for lackluster efforts in saber and epée during the other two matches, going 9-0 and 7-2 in leading the Judges to sound victories over Haverford and Air Force, respectively. Newhall, one of last week's UAA Players of the Week, won all three of her bouts against Haverford, and the Judges demonstrated their depth at the position against Air Force, getting three wins from Jessica Davis-Heim '09 and two apiece from Tess Woehrlen '09 and captain Stefanie Aucoin '08.

Aucion said the Judges' 19-8 loss to Brown University at the Jan. 26 Northeast Conference Meet spurred them to wins against stronger squads this weekend.

"The opponents here are a lot tougher than [at the Northeast Conference Meet]," she said. "Brown was probably our most difficult competition last week. All of these teams are of a higher level."

The men's team was not as successful against NYU, dropping just their second match of the season. Despite finishing 2-1 on the day, some players were disappointed with the team's effort, particularly at the beginning of the event.

"We started a little slow in terms of team spirit," captain and foil Eugene Vortsman '08 said. "The team needed to wake up and get enthusiastic."

A slow start did not affect the Judges against Haverford in the team's first match of the day, but coach Bill Shipman said it was the difference against the Violets.

"Against Haverford we were clearly the better team," he said. "We certainly didn't fence our best at the beginning of the meet, but as we went on, we fenced better. Against NYU, we needed more intensity at the beginning of the match."

The Judges won five of their nine foil bouts against NYU, led by Will Friedman's '09 and Vortsman's two bout victories apiece, which offset a surprising 5-4 loss in the epée bouts, the Judges' first loss in epée this season. The difference, however, was in the saber bouts, as the Violets dominated the Judges 7-2 en route to victory.

"We really need to beat them at epée because that is our strongest squad," Shipman said. "[NYU was] clearly more experienced in saber. Our guys just weren't taking enough chances."

Both teams next compete at the Duke University Invitational in Durham, N.C. next weekend.