The women's fencing team went into its final conference meet of the season feeling confident after holding up well against some of the top competition in the country last weekend at the University of New Hampshire (UNH). That confidence translated into great play and a perfect weekend record for the team, as it went 5-0, taking out UMass, Wellesley, Sacred Heart, Boston College, and host UNH.
The team trounced UMass and UNH, both by scores of 20-7, and rolled over Sacred Heart 21-6. The Jumbos narrowly squeezed by Wellesley with a 15-12 mark, and held on by the skin of their teeth to defeat BC for the second time this season, 14-13.
In an incredible match against the Eagles of Boston College, which came down to the very last bout, the stalwart sabre team once again held its ground in keeping the squad in the match, going undefeated.
"Our sabre team really saved us against BC," coach Jason Sachs said.
The BC match also featured the emergence of freshman epeeist Diedra Brown, who defeated the top fencer from Boston College, a feat even team leader, senior Amy Dickinson, has been unable to accomplish.
The successful weekend also featured a number of solid individual performances from fencers of all styles. Sophomore sabreist Mika Mutoh was 14-1 on the weekend, helping her chances for making the national meet, while fellow sabre fencer freshman Kasara Williams also had a strong showing, going 11-4. Freshman foilist Emily Finn also had a great meet, finishing the weekend at 10-2.
As expected, Dickinson had another stellar performance, going 14-1 in her quest for Nationals.
"Amy and Mika both had to perform very well for NCAAs," Sachs said.
With the regional meet three weeks away, both Dickinson and Mutoh were offered the option of not fencing over the weekend. This would have allowed them not to hurt their records, as placement in the regional meet is based on winning percentage against NCAA schools. Neither wished to sit out however, not wanting to hurt the team.
"They both stood up well to the pressure, which should help them in the bigger meets." Sachs said.
Though Dickinson clearly has the best chance of making the national meet, followed closely by Mutoh, Sachs feels that there are two or three additional fencers who have outside chances.
"We have four fencers with winning percentages between 60 percent and 75 percent." Sachs said. "Last year we only had one [of this caliber], and she made Nationals."
Even before the regional meet, however, the team will face the challenge of the New England Championships, which the Jumbos won two years ago. The team feels confident that it has a chance at taking the championships again, although it will have to go up against MIT and Brown, both of whom defeated Tufts earlier in the season.
The team will again have to look to the sabre team if it wishes to take the championships.
"Both MIT and Brown beat us earlier in the season, but everyone has improved greatly since then, especially the sabre team." Sachs said.
The Jumbos will also have to turn to their emerging stars to help them as well. The team will look for epeeist sophomore Francis Harper to help take some of the pressure off of Dickinson in the epee competition. They will also be hoping for Brown to continue her spectacular performances of late.
Though their regular season is over, the Jumbos still have plenty of fencing left to do, and will certainly be tested in the upcoming weeks. Despite the team's great improvement over the course of the season, it still plans to work hard and continue to excel.
"We're pumped." Sachs said. "This is very exciting."
