The women's fencing team took to the road again last weekend, with the daunting task of two competitions in two days against some of the most skilled programs in the country.
On Saturday, the Jumbos headed to the Wellesley Invitational, where they took on Wellesley, Vassar, and powerhouse Cornell. Carrying confidence from their success in the previous week, when they went 3-1 at the Farleigh Dickinson Invitational, the squad handily took out Vassar by a score of 16-11, and rolled over host Wellesley 17-10. The team did not fare so well against Cornell, however, falling 19-8.
Despite the outcome of the Cornell match, the high level of competition helped to prepare the team for its next challenge, the MIT Invitational, against NYU, UNC, and Penn. Although the Jumbos did not expect to win their matches against these larger opponents, they hoped to perform well and leave somewhat encouraged.
The squad more than accomplished these goals, turning in very close scores against NYU and UNC, and a solid performance against Penn. The Jumbos ended the day with a 17-10 loss to NYU, and an surprisingly close 15-12 loss to UNC, a perennial elite school. The team was not as fortunate against the Penn fencing juggernaut, however, falling by a score of 22-5.
Despite the 2-4 record, the weekend featured very encouraging performances. The sabre team turned in especially impressive results, going 5-1 overall on the weekend, losing only to Penn by a remarkably close score of 5-4.
"Our sabre team really came of age this weekend," coach Jason Sachs said.
The all-sophomore sabre team faced the challenge of the larger schools head on, led by the gutsy play of Mika Mutoh, who pulled out a victory in a thrilling bout against Penn.
"Mika was really incredible," Sachs said. "She had some incredible moves."
Sabre fighter Kasara Williams also turned in an impressive performance. Following a striking 2-1 record the previous weekend against Temple, Williams went 9-9 this week against the fierce competition.
The foil team continued its solid work, despite key injuries, including sophomore foil captain Kim Harbin. Despite this setback, however, the team was encouraged by the great play of freshman Kathy Egan, who stepped in for the injured Harbin. Egan went 8-8, including an incredible 2-1 performance against NYU.
"Kathy really stepped up well this weekend," Sachs said.
As expected, epee captain, senior Amy Dickinson turned in another stellar performance over the weekend, going 12-6 overall, including 6-3 on Sunday. Dickinson performed well against the larger schools, going 3-0 against UNC, 2-1 against NYU, and 1-2 against Penn. Her great play against these larger schools will prove to be very important in her goal to go to the national meet.
"This weekend definitely had the potential to hurt me," Dickinson said. "But I think it will end up helping."
The epee style fighter was very pleased not only with her own performance, but also with the performance of her fellow epee artists.
"We're really improving as a team," Dickinson said. "Francis [Harper] is really starting to come into her own."
Next weekend the Jumbos head to an important conference meet, where they will face much tamer conference competition Saturday at the University of New Hampshire. They will also compete against Boston College, a team they defeated earlier in the season. The BC match-up should still prove to be tough for the Jumbos though, as the earlier victory was Jumbos' first ever.
"They were a good team when we beat them earlier, and they've probably improved by now," Sachs said.
