Shortly after the strong finish at the Northeast Conference meet at Boston College on Saturday, the women’s fencing team continued to dominate as they rolled over the Wellesley Blue by winning all three weapons on Tuesday night. The annual meeting between the Brandeis and Wellesley fencing teams ended with a total score of 19-8, the fourth straight win for women’s fencing when facing Wellesley in the annual dual. While the Judges achieved another cheering victory to add to their overall 14-4 record, the Wellesley Blue fell to 7-8 midway through the season.
The battle started with sabre, in which the Judges were firmly in control and boosted their morale. The sabre squad, led by Laura Broffman ’18 and Nina Sayles ’17, closed out the action with an 8-1 victory. Broffman and Sayles both showcased their dominance over the field with two solid 3-0 victories. Sayles remarkably scored 11 touches in a row facing her opponent and only surrendered one in her third match. Combined with her dramatic turnaround victory against Boston College with five direct unanswered touches, Sayles has just been named the Brandeis Athlete of the Week. Deborah Abiri ’16 also enjoyed victory with a score of 2-1, despite missing the chance of claiming the Judges’ fourth 9-0 clean record in this season since November.
The epee team carried on with their steady performance throughout the season as they posted a 6-3 win over the Wellesley Blue. Sonya Glickman ’16 and Gwendolyn Mowell ’16 led the squad with two 2-0 wins and a cumulative score of 10-4. However, Wellesley Blue’s Cassandra decided not to make things easy for the Judges. She earned two winning points from both Liz Feller ’18 and Rosa Zhang ’16. The minor struggle didn’t hurt the Judges’ confidence as both Feller and Zhang fought hard and earned one win for each of their actions to secure the final victory.
The atmosphere began to heat up during the foil. In spite of an early solid 2-0 advantage won by Joanne Carminucci ’19, the subsequent games became breathtakingly close. After two tied matches played by Emilia Dwyer ’16 and Annie Kim ’16 and two tough 0-1 losses for Anna Craven ’18 and Chaya Schapiro ’17, the two teams were back to an even spot. Taylor Hood from the Wellesley Blue was prepared for a complete turn-around performance herself with Wellesley’s rising morale. But Judges Captain Caroline Mattos ’16 stepped up with a 5-0 personal victory over Hood to clinch a tough 5-4 win for the foil squad at the end.
With the boosted confidence and spirit from the Northeast Conference meet and the annual meet with Wellesley, Brandeis women’s fencing seems ready to return into action at home this Saturday. The Judges will be facing Stevens Tech, NJIT, Haverford, NYU and Hunter in the Eric Sollee Invitational at home at 9 a.m. to again test the sharpness of their swords and toughness of their minds.
