The men's and women's fencing teams headed to Duke University last Saturday from two entirely different paths. The men, on one hand, were looking to replicate their success at the Eric Sollee Invitational, while the women sought to erase memory of a disappointing performance. Both squads, though, had one goal: excel at the Duke Invitational, the nation's most challenging Division I fencing meet.

While the records may not indicate so, the goal was certainly accomplished. The men's team finished 2-3 at the meet, defeating Johns Hopkins University 17-10 and the University of North Carolina 14-13, while suffering a 15-12 loss to the Air Force Academy and 14-8 losses to Duke and Penn State University.

Épéeist Alex Powell '12 was impressed with the squad's performance in such a competitive invitational.

"The meet at Duke this weekend was our toughest so far of the season," he said. "We fenced tough matches for the second time this season against very hungry and competitive teams."

While last week's victory against Johns Hopkins brought up memories of Brandeis' thrilling victory over the Blue Jays at the Sollee Invitational, this rematch was decisively in the Judges' favor.

In saber and foil, the Judges earned 7-2 and 6-3 victories, respectively, while the épée fencers fell by a margin of 5-4. Rookie sabreists Jess Ochs-Willard '15 and Adam Mandel ‘15 were undefeated in action. Powell also won all of his matches in the épée competition.

Competitors in all three weapons fought tough matches against a UNC team that had delivered a loss to the Judges on Dec. 2.

All three came down to the final rotation. Brandeis edged out the Tar Heels in two of the three weapons to achieve a close 14-13 victory.

Powell would once again save the day for Brandeis, earning a 5-3 victory to give the Judges the edge.

Although UNC edged out the Judges' sabreists, Ethan Levy's '15 5-2 finish and Noah Berman's '15 5-3 finish, led the Judges to a win in foil.

Despite losing to the Air Force, Penn State and Duke, Powell believed the Invitational provided a good benchmark of the team's talent and growth.

"I think this meet was a good test of our abilities as a team," he said. "We have been preparing very hard and diligently for this weekend's [upcoming] competition at the Beanpot at Harvard."

The women's fencing team, while performing well against top-ranked opponents, still left this weekend's Duke Invitational with a 1-4 record. After a 18-9 victory against the Air Force Academy, the Judges fell prey to an array of national powerhouses, including a 15-12 loss and a 22-5 defeat to Duke.

The women also were defeated by two of the top 10 teams in the country, losing to No. 1 Penn State 20-7 and No. 8 Temple University 18-9.

While all three weapons emerged victorious against the Air Force, the épéeists came away with the most decisive victory in this match, winning 7-2.

The foilists would provide the only other victory of the day, winning 7-2 against UNC. Despite the Judges' 5-4 defeat, Leah Mack '14 went undefeated in épée against the Tar Heels.

Although the sabreists suffered a tough 8-1 loss in competition against UNC, they managed to find a bright spot against Temple, as Zoe Messinger '13 delivered a 3-0 victory en route to a close 5-4 loss.

The toughest opponent, however, were the host Blue Devils, against whom no Brandeis fencer achieved more than one individual win.

Despite the struggles, Messinger was still proud of the team's individual accomplishments at Duke.

"This weekend proved we could hold our own against some of the strongest teams in the nation," said Messinger. "There was a lot of passion and camraderie and that definitely helped us with our success."

Both fencing squads will square off this evening at Harvard University for the 2012 Beanpot Tournament.

They will compete against Boston-area schools such as Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Boston College.