Both the men’s and women’s fencing squads struggled at the Brandeis Invitational tournament this past Sunday going 0-4 and 0-5 respectively. The men lost 11-16 to Brown, 10-17 to North Carolina, 7-20 to St. John’s and 10-17 to Yale while the women lost 7-20 to Brown, 8-19 to North Carolina, 1-26 to St. John’s, 11-16 to Yale and 7-20 to Cornell. Despite not winning a single match, there were still some solid individual performances.

The men’s saber squad had the best performance beating Brown 5-4 and North Carolina 6-3. Saberist Jess Ochs-Willard ’15 finished 7-2 on the day and classmate and saberist Adam Mandel ’15 also had a solid day finishing 6-4. Foil Julian Cardillo ’14 had a strong outing winning 8 of his 12 bouts. Finally, epee Alex Powell ’12 accounted for four of the epee squad’s nine wins.

Saberist Zoe Messinger ’13 led the women’s saber squad winning seven of the squad’s 14 points, including the only point that Brandeis scored against St. John’s. Foil Vikki Nunley ’13 had a strong performance as well, winning eight of her 12 bouts. Epee Emily Mandel ’12 was the top performer on the epee squad, winning three of the squad’s nine bouts.

The men’s team returns to action Jan. 28 for the second Northeast Conference Meet at Boston College against Brown, Sacred Heart, Dartmouth, Vassar and the hosts. The women’s team will return to action Jan. 25 when they travel to Wellesley College.