After miscalculating the score in the third round of the Brandeis/MIT Invitational last Sunday, Coach Bill Shipman believed that the women's fencing team had lost against New York University and, with no chance at a comeback, prepared to play the substitutes for the final épée bouts. However, captain and saber Jenny Press '09 retallied the scores for the match and realized the Judges were down at just 13-12 and still had a chance to win. The Judges tied the score at 13 and épée Caitlin Kozel '09 was unexpectedly called upon to compete in the deciding bout. She did so handily, winning 5-2 to lead the Judges to a 14-13 victory.

"There was no pressure because no one had any idea what was going on," Kozel said.

The women's team finished the day 3-3 with wins against Yeshiva University (25-2) and Haverford College (18-9) and losses against Princeton University (10-17), Duke University (13-14) and the University of Pennsylvania (7-20). The men's team finished 2-4, defeating Yeshiva (24-3) and Haverford (16-11) and losing to Princeton (7-20), Duke (9-18), NYU (12-15), and UPenn (7-20).

"The level of competition was a little higher than we are normally accustomed to," Shipman said. "We needed to fence smarter than we had in our previous matches, but I think both teams performed well."

The women's team also defeated Wellesley College 18-9 last Wednesday led by a 9-0 sweep by the saber squad.

In addition to competing in one of the longest meets of the year, players said the squad also struggled to maintain focus throughout the day after competing against Wellesley earlier in the week.

"Everyone was fencing for every touch. We had our lunch earlier, so we had a hard time refocusing and re-energizing ourselves after the break," captain, foil and saber Jessica Davis-Heim '09 said. "We try to get into competitive bouts with each other before we compete against other teams, but today we were a bit sluggish after the break,"

UPenn's women's team dominated the competition throughout the day, but Brandeis fared well against the Quakers' foils, with foil Jessica Newhall '09 leading the Judges in their three victories.

Still, Shipman said the foil team's performance was inconsistent throughout the day.

"They fenced well against Princeton and not so well against Duke, where we really needed them, but they looked better later in the day," he said.

Princeton proved to be the most challenging team for the Judges, and the team said they did not expect much out of their bouts with the Tigers.

"We were excited every time we got a point against Princeton," Kozel said. "None of their fencers are awkward beginners. They all know what strategies they're going to use before the bout, as a team and individually,"

Shipman said the women's saber team should move along the entire fencing strip more and take more risks, but added that the épée team was too aggressive during the meet and could have defeated Duke with a better performance.

He said of the foils, "Against Duke, our foils were more experienced and Duke had a lot of weaknesses that we didn't take advantage of."

The men's team finished the day 2-4 and experienced the most difficulty against Duke, UPenn, and fellow University Athletic Association member NYU, a team that regularly competes at Brandeis' level.

Despite the men's team performance, captain and foil Will Friedman '09 said he expects the team will regain momentum going into their next meet.

"We have two weeks off, so we'll have some time to rest up and correct some of the mistakes we made today," Friedman said. "The foil squad needs to come out with a better mindset and a stronger drive to win,"

The women's team next competes at the Stevens Invitational in Hoboken, N.J. Sunday. Both teams will then participate in the New England Championships in South Hadley, Mass. Feb. 22.