Fencing wins third straight Wellesley Invitational

For the third year running, Tufts fencing returned home from the Wellesley Invitational victorious, having dominated the quad-meet and captured first place.

On Saturday, Tufts was led by the sabre and foil squads, which went undefeated on the day and boasted four athletes who did not lose a single bout.

"We were just the strongest team there," senior epee captain Talia Alexander said. She explained that Smith, who Tufts defeated for the second week in a row, is perennially weak while this weekend's other competition, Wellesley and Vassar, are teams that fluctuate from year to year.

"This year we were just on top," Alexander said. "It was fun."

Prior to the meet, coach Jason Sachs was unsure how his team would perform compared to its 2002 and 2003 victories at the invitational. Graduation losses last spring left several holes in the roster that have been filled by relatively inexperienced fencers.

"I was a little worried because our team isn't as strong as last year," Sachs said. "But we certainly proved everyone wrong and we did really well."

In the sabre division, the powerhouse tandem of sisters Kat and Louisa May Zouein went undefeated. Senior foil captain Christina Zahara and sophomore Julia Shih followed suit in the foil competition, downing every opponent they faced on the strip.

Alexander praised Zahara for the improvements she has made since the two joined the squad at the same time when they were sophomores.

"Three years ago, she couldn't lift a foil," Alexander said of her co-captain. "It's a credit to how hard she works that she [can go undefeated] now."

The success of Sachs' focus on novice fencer development was further showcased when sophomore Tiffany Tran notched her first two collegiate wins in the sabre competition.

The fencing team traditionally welcomes both veteran and inexperienced fencers into its program, and over the years, has shown considerable success in fostering the growth of newcomers. Last spring, then-senior Kasara Williams (LA '03) qualified to fence at the NCAA national tournament, marking the crowning culmination of a fencing career that did not begin until she was a freshman at Tufts.

Along with Zahara and Tran, the team's current roster includes individuals like freshman Katie Muller, who won two of three bouts in her first collegiate competition against St. John's in December.

Nevertheless, Tufts' hopes for continued success and aspirations of NCAA qualifications continue to rest largely on the shoulders of the Zouein sisters, who both entered Tufts with strong fencing backgrounds.

"We've spent the season trying to develop a team around Louisa May and Kat, and we've done so," Sachs said.

In their second event of the weekend on Sunday, Tufts' fencers competed as individuals in a non-collegiate tournament at the Boston Fencing Club. An event like this would favor individuals like the Zoueins, since there is no team scoring and each fencer advances based only on her own bouts.

According to Alexander, Sunday was an interesting but challenging day for the squad, especially for new members, because the competition was run unlike normal collegiate meets.

In a normal competition for Tufts fencers, five hits are needed to win a bout. At last weekend's tournament, bouts lasted until 15 touches, making each contest longer and more tiresome than those to which the Tufts athletes are accustomed.

Also, after initial competition in pools to establish rankings, bouts were set up in a bracket system on a single-elimination basis.

"We don't really practice bouts like that because we don't fence this way that often," Alexander said. "We haven't really practiced direct elimination [bouts] at all because [they're] not really collegiate fencing [and] not really important for how we do in the season. "

Next Sunday, Tufts will compete in its second conference meet of the season, which will be held at Wellesley College. With over a dozen schools in the conference, the meet must be divided over two weekends to allow all schools the opportunity to fence each other. As compared to the first conference meet this winter, where Tufts faced several strong programs, this weekend's schedule favors a strong performance by the Jumbos.

Alexander said she expects Tufts to win almost all of their matches against fencing schools like Boston University, Wellesley, UMass Amherst, and Smith.

The upcoming two weeks will require a lot of hard work from the team.

"But next weekend, we should do pretty well," Sachs said.