The men's and women's fencing teams traveled to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology last weekend to compete in their first official matches of the season, and both teams performed well. The men's team earned a 4-1 record while the women's team left with a winning record of 5-1. The men's team first dueled against the University of New Hampshire, winning by a margin of 20-7.

Brandeis then faced its two toughest opponents of the tournament, Division III MIT and Division I Sacred Heart University. The Judges fought well in both matches and defeated host MIT by a score of 18-9. However, despite a well-played match against SHU, Brandeis ended up losing by a score of 11-10.

Adam Austin '11 led the team all tournament, and nearly brought the team back against SHU. Austin, the saber-wielding captain, was 3-0 against Sacred Heart and posted a perfect 9-0 record throughout the day.

The team cruised through the rest of the tournament, topping the University of Massachusetts Amherst by a score of 20-7 and rounding out the action with an 18-9 win over Boston University.

Seth Dworman '14 said that the team was very happy with the results.

"Going 4-1 was absolutely huge for our team and it's a great way to start the season," he said. "This was due in large part to our team spirit-everyone was extremely supportive of each other, and that sense of chemistry definitely was a factor in our win."

Coach William Shipman agreed that it was a great tournament for the men's team.

"Our men had a good overall day, with a good win over MIT after a disappointing loss last year," he said. "All of our foil guys showed progress, winning 7-2 and our more experienced saber and epee squads were solid as well."

Shipman also was impressed with many of the rookie fencers on the men's team.

"First-years Julian Cardillo and Mark Borreliz, who showed flashes of excellence, as well as all our new fencers, looked really good," he said.

The women turned out a dominating performance as well. Following largely the same schedule as the men, the women handily defeated UNH by a score of 22-5.

However, the women were unable to sneak past MIT, as they lost a well-played match by a score of 15-12. After that, the women had no problem with the rest of the field, defeating SHU 20-7 and Wellesley College 14-13. Their final two matches resulted in 19-8 triumphs over both UMass Amherst and BU.

Vikki Nunley '13 led the women's team with 12 victories in her 15 bouts in the foil division. Alex Turner '11 notched an 11-7 record despite using a foil weapon instead of her usual saber. Shipman said that he was pleased with the women's results, especially in light of the recent roster shake ups.

"[I] was very encouraged by the progress of women's fencing, given our number of new fencers and amount of injuries and absences we have had lately," he said.

Despite their great outing on Saturday, Dworman said that the team still has room for improvement.

"Point control and staying relaxed in light of intimidating matchups are crucial if we want to attain total success."

Shipman also acknowledged that both teams have some things to work on.

"[We need to work on] making fewer mistakes, showing better tactics (especially épée) and ... performing better overall as a team," he said.

For their next competition, the Judges will host the Brandeis Invitational on Sunday, Dec. 5, their last action of 2010.

Editor's note: Julian Cardillo '14 is a Sports staff writer for the Justice.