Women's Fencing | Jumbos fall to NYU, lose four of five over tough weekend

     For the first time this season, the women's fencing team both fenced on back-to-back days and hosted a meet. But despite the change of schedule and venue, the results ultimately remained the same, as the Jumbos dropped four out of five matches over the course of two days, culminating in a 1-3 Sunday at the MIT Eric Sollee Invitational.
    In the latter of Tufts' two separate days of competition, the epeeists proved they could hold their own against even the best of Div. I opponents, continuing to confirm themselves as the strongest Tufts weapon in competition
    "Yesterday, it was a long day, considering we had a meet Saturday as well," junior epee captain Rebecca Hughes said. "I think we exceeded our expectations considering the fact that we beat Yeshiva and [Boston College]. BC is really formidable, so that was a good moment for us."
    Over the course of the day, epee went 22-14, while foil and sabre lost 14-22 and 11-27, respectively, solidifying the losing results. Every weapon beat up on Yeshiva, however, while epee pulled out the only other win with a 7-2 victory over Boston College. Tufts faced more difficult challenges later on, as the field was filled with nationally ranked top-10 teams. Still, the Jumbos put forth respectable efforts against No. 9 Pennsylvania and No. 7 Princeton, especially in epee.
    "Penn and Princeton both have world-class fencers," Hughes said. "We normally don't face them, but that's a really good experience for us, and it lets us be able to get points [towards individually qualifying] for NCAAs. It's tough for a [Div. III] school to qualify for NCAAs, so fencing those programs gives us some bonus points."
    The 20-7 loss to Penn. was as close as any team came on the day to the Quakers, as Penn. deftly sliced through the competition, finishing Sunday at a perfect 5-0. Tufts' 23-4 loss to Princeton was less respectable, though the Tigers did manage to post a clean 6-0 sheet at the Invite. The most impressive individual performance came from sophomore Georgia Ranes, who won all three of her bouts against Penn.
    "I feel like everything came together and worked for me," Ranes said. "I didn't overthink anything. I just kind of fenced. I didn't stress about anything, and it made me really relaxed. Even when I lost, I felt like the other girl was just better, so I never got upset. The girls I fenced were all competitive, and it just so happened [that] my point was on and I could figure them out before they could figure me out."
    "Georgia fenced amazingly," Hughes added. "She was really composed all day, and against Penn she was confident, patient and took her time, so she deserved to win."
    The day before, Tufts hosted its first meet of the year in Jackson Gym against NYU, another team that has received votes in the NCAA national poll. The end result for Tufts was a narrow defeat, but the Jumbos came away feeling they'd put forth a strong effort.
    "I didn't do too great, but I've only had two weeks of practice, and NYU is solid," said junior foilist Naomi Bryant, who is also the executive arts editor for the Daily and who spent last semester abroad.
    Tufts' sabre captain, junior Alex Cheetham, also recently returned from abroad, and in her short time back on the Hill is already noticing improvement in the young
sabre squad.
    "We still have somewhere to go as a fairly new team, but I think we did very well against a very good team in NYU," Cheetham said. "As the season progresses, we've shown a marked improvement. Sarah Danly did very well, going 2-1. She's a freshman, and she's improved a lot since
last meet."
    Epee's dominating 8-1 win against NYU displayed the level of progress the other weapons are seeking.
    "I didn't know what to expect against NYU," Hughes said. "Last year we didn't do nearly as well. But this was a big deal for us. We had a lot of bouts go to the final touch and we won them 5-4, and those feel good because they could go
either way."
    The tensest bout of the day came on the middle strip in Jackson where, with Tufts freshman foilist Meredith Paul knotted in her individual match at four points apiece, a victory could have kept the Jumbos in contention for the overall win.
    "I was backed up and then I lost a meter, so I was only allowed one foot on the strip," Paul said.  "And then I lost. It was disappointing."   
    Tufts eventually fell 15-12, with sabre and foil both going 2-7, but coach Jason Sachs expressed no disappointment.
    "It was a tremendous improvement," he said. "NYU is strong. It was a little like David vs. Goliath. [Senior foil captain] Christine Lee beat an A-ranked fencer. You can see the improvement as we're getting back into the swing
of things."
    "She beat me last year, so I'm happy I got to beat her before I graduate," said Lee, who went 2-1 against NYU. "We're ranked Ds and Cs, so we did well considering how strong NYU is."
    On Saturday, Tufts will host the second conference meet of the year after recording a 2-4 performance last week in the first conference meet at Brown.
    "I'm looking forward to fencing Wellesley," Hughes said of the upcoming Feb. 7 competition. "Every year that's a tossup, but I think we should be able to beat them. Also, fencing BC again — I'd like to have a chance for the team to beat them, not just our weapon."