The women's fencing team kicked off its winter season at the Vassar Multi-Meet over the Nov. 10 weekend, finishing the tournament as the only undefeated team. Its eight wins came against Stevens Institute of Technology (16-11), Fairleigh Dickinson University (17-10), Queens College (23-4), City College of New York (17-10), West Point (19-8), Hunter College (23-4), Yeshiva University (24-3) and Cornell University (14-13).
The tightly contested 14-13 win against Cornell, a Div. I team, was the biggest win for the Jumbos, marking Cornell's only loss in the tournament.
"We've never been able to beat [Cornell] before," senior co-captain Shelby Bean told the Daily in an email.
In many ways, it was a milestone day for the Jumbos.
"We've never gone undefeated at [Vassar] and have never beaten [a] Div. I school," senior sabre captain Julia Hisey told the Daily in an email. "For the sabre squad specifically, we won against Cornell, 8-1. This was especially exciting because we have never beaten their squad."
The Vassar Invitational was structured so that the Jumbos had one meet against each of their eight opponents, with three starting fencers on each team (sabre, foil and epee) and a total of nine starters per meet. Each meet consisted of 27 bouts, meaning each starter fenced three times until one team had won a majority of the 27 bouts.
Of the three weapon teams, the sabre squad performed the most consistently, going undefeated against Stevens, Queens College, West Point and Yeshiva with only one loss against FDU, CCNY, Cornell and Hunter. Sophomore sabre Alexandra Boden went 22-0.
Although foil had the weakest record in the tournament, senior foil captain Mailin Li was happy with the results.
"Considering we are the youngest in terms of experience and we replaced almost all of our foil squad ... we did well at Vassar in beating out comparable teams," Li told the Daily in an email.
Junior epee captain Katharine Lynch took the 14th bout, 5-1, for the 14-13 win over Cornell. The win emphasized the team's focus on mental dexterity and toughness throughout the day.
"I think we have the emotional aspect of fencing down - it is very difficult to stay focused and mentally prepared throughout a long tournament, but as a team, we were able to stay mentally strong throughout the highs and lows of the day," Lynch said.
Another crucial factor to the team's success has been its morale and support.
"The team had amazing camaraderie," Hisey said. "Even across squads, we were all engaged and supported each other. When the epee squad [beat] Cornell for a very tight win, we all ran in for a group hug. I've never felt that much team spirit on a fencing team before, especially since fencing is such an individual sport."
The Jumbos expect to reach unprecedented heights this season.
"Tufts is on its way to becoming a dominant force for women's fencing in the Northeast, and beating Cornell was a big step in that direction," Bean said.
Although the team exceeded expectations at Vassar, the captains recognize the need to remain vigilant and improve on their weaknesses to produce even greater success.
"We'll be looking to firm up technique and strategy through drilling in practice," Hisey said. "We're also hoping to video tape each other in practice to reflect more on how we can improve specific actions and overall strategy."
The Jumbos return to action on Dec. 6 at Harvard.
