Fencing wins six bouts against top Div. I school

A 21-6 loss isn't usually anything to brag about. But the women's fencing team returned home from such a loss to St. John's at Boston College two weekends ago with no shame.

St. John's, a Division I school, has arguably the best fencing program in the nation. Virtually the entire team receives athletic scholarships, and the Red Storm typically boasts at least a few Olympic-caliber fencers.

According to coach Jason Sachs, Tufts fencing St. John's is "as if the Tufts basketball team was playing Boston College -- they're not even comparable."

The purpose of scheduling the seemingly uneven match-up, he explained, was to provide individual Jumbos with an opportunity to improve their national rankings, in order to bolster chances of qualifying for the NCAA's in March.

National rankings are based on a points system, and if a Tufts fencer beats a St. John's fencer just once, she will earn far more points than if she wins even 3-0 against someone from a more comparable squad.

"We had no expectation of beating them as a team," Sachs said. "But we were respectable."

Sachs said that Tufts was able to prevail in six of the 27 bouts in part because St. John's did not use some of its best epee fencers, but that strong performances on the strip by some Tufts fencers also contributed to the victories.

Entering the match, Sachs' highest expectations were on his two strongest athletes, sophomore saber captain Kat Zouein and her sister, freshman Louisa May Zouein. The two Jumbos had the best shot at winding up at NCAA's, so Sachs had that pair's national rankings foremost in his mind when opting to fence St. John's -- or a school like Columbia University, who Tufts will face this Saturday.

In the saber competition, the elder Zouein went 1-2 in her first meet of the season. She earned her victory over All-American Christina Crane, who took eighth at last year's NCAA Championships.

"I started out pretty slow, but by my last bout I was doing really well," Zouein said.

According to Sachs, Kat Zouein earned around 90 points towards her own ranking by defeating such a high-ranked fencer.

Louisa May Zouein lost all three of her bouts, but Sachs said he was neither disappointed nor entirely surprised. The Red Storm brought a very strong saber squad to the meet, and it was only Louisa May's second collegiate competition. Earlier this season, the younger Zouein displayed just how much potential she has when she won "The Big One," a meet that features nearly all of New England's strongest fencing schools.

While the Tufts saberists -- the Zoueins and freshman Kara Davidson -- faced top-notch competition, winning only one of nine saber bouts, St. John's epee and foil squads were not quite as foreboding. The Jumbos took full advantage of that fact, and the epeeists did especially well, going 4-9.

"The epee squad did a lot better than expected," Sachs said. "I was very proud of us."

Freshman Katie Muller "showed a lot of promise," according to sophomore foilist Julia Shih. Muller won two of her three epee bouts, in her first fencing competition ever.

"I was nervous," Muller said. "But when I got on the strip, you just do what you do in practice and hope that everything goes well. And it did."

Senior foil captain Cristina Zahara was the only Jumbo to post a win in the foil competition, where she beat a more experienced St. John's fencer.

"It was nice to be able to hang out with the best team in the country and it's not a bad experience," Sachs said. "When we fence teams that are comparable to us, like a Wellesley or a Smith or BC, then we will have much higher expectations."

"This team really seems willing to come in every day and get better," Sachs continued. "I'm happy to push people as far as I can push them, but I also have to be patient and know that it takes time. But I'm optimistic."