The Brandeis University fencing teams proved successful at the 2020 Eric Sollee Invitational on Saturday, Feb. 1, finishing with a combined 7-5 record. The women’s team were 4-2 on the day, while the men’s squad were even at 3-3.
The short-handed Hunter College team was no match for the Judges. Both the men’s and women’s teams defeated the Hawks; the women swept Hunter 27-0, while the men earned a victory 22-5. The Judges, though, were not as successful against the nationally-ranked squads from the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), nor were they successful against their University Athletic Association rivals from New York University (NYU). Leading both matches against the NYU Violets, the Judges were unable to win the last few bouts. The men’s foil owned a 6-0 lead, but NYU came from behind to win the final three matches; the NYU epee team claimed the final two bouts in overtime to defeat Brandeis 16-11. The women won 7-2 in saber, which was their most lethal weapon of the day, but unfortunately, the Judges could not match their wins in the other two weapons; the women fell 15-12 to the Violets.
Against Stevens Institute of Technology, the women were able to secure their second saber sweep of the day, 9-0, which propelled them to a 16-11 victory over the Ducks, while the men did not have as much luck. A 5-4 split, with saber for the Judges and foil for Stevens, the Ducks took the overall victory with a 6-3 win in epee.
The men were able to secure narrow wins over New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). Down 4-2 in saber, the Judges claimed the final four bouts, including the clinching win by Lucas Lin ’22. Epee had their best win of the tournament, 7-2, as Brandeis secured it 16-11. The Brandeis women and NJIT split foil and epee, 6-3, with the Judges taking the former. Brandeis led saber 4-1, but Maggie Shealy ’23 gave the Judges the advantage, posting a 5-0 win in the second to last match to give Brandeis the 14-13 victory.
Both squads finished out the tournament with wins over Haverford, with the women taking a 17-10 victory from the Black Squirrels, and the men securing a 15-12 victory.
The Brandeis women’s saber team provided the top individual performers of the day, as Shealy posted a team-high 13 wins against four losses, finishing 3-0 against Stevens and Haverford. Classmate Jessica Morales ’23 went 11-2 on the day, with 3-0 records against NJIT and UAA rival NYU.
Jessica Gets ‘20 posted nine wins for the Judges’ foil squad, while rookies Samantha Shortall ’23 and Ivanna Zavalla ’23 finished with eight each.
The men’s team found great success, too, as Lin led the team with eight total wins, including 2-1 against the Violets. Foil senior Ian Quin ’20 posted a team-high seven wins, including 3-0 against Penn and 2-1 against NYU and NJIT.
