Tufts fencing boosts conference record to .500

An unexpected loss to host Wellesley was the only blemish on Tufts' record Sunday, as the fencing team attended its second and final conference meet of the season. The Jumbos prevailed against four of five schools, drastically improving their record in the New England Intercollegiate Fencing Conference (NEIFC) from 1-4 to 5-5.

Following a disappointing 14-13 loss to a Wellesley squad that Tufts beat twice earlier this season, including a 17-10 victory just last weekend, the Jumbos rebounded to dominate their next four matches.

"Part of what's great about fencing is it teaches you how to deal with losing, and this team handled it extremely well," coach Jason Sachs said. "This team is strong. They turned around and rallied and beat everyone else."

Sachs said that Wellesley's victory stemmed from "the Titanic of several unlikely things" happening to the Tufts squad almost simultaneously, including sophomore sabrist Kat Zouein's first conference loss this year and fluke losses by senior Christina Zahara in the foil and sophomore Regan Cerato in the epee.

"The thing about fencing is you can't be perfect and you can't expect everyone else to be perfect," Sachs said. "Unfortunately everyone wasn't perfect at the same time."

When they host the New England Championships in two weeks, the Jumbos will face Wellesley again, with hopes of redemption.

"We're determined to pay them back for this unlikely loss," Sachs said. "They fenced hard, but it just shouldn't have happened."

Despite opening the day on a low note, Tufts won the remainder of its matches and left with a satisfactory .500 conference record. The Jumbos topped UMass Amherst (16-11), Dartmouth (17-10), UNH (17-10), and Boston University (15-12). Sachs noted that Tufts' dominance in some of those matches allowed the Jumbos to substitute in some non-starters, which left the final scores looking closer than they actually were.

To win a fencing match, a team must capture victories in at least 14 of the 27 individual bouts. On Sunday, hitting the 14-point mark early against some schools afforded Sachs the opportunity to give less experienced fencers, like freshman Laura Sibley, some time on the strip. Sibley notched her first competitive win in a bout against Dartmouth College, in a performance that Sachs said "showed a lot of promise."

According to Sachs, classmate Louisa May Zouein had "a sparkling day." Hers was more predictable than was Sibley's, as Zouein has already enjoyed a stellar inaugural campaign at Tufts. She continued that streak Sunday, going undefeated in the sabre division until her very last bout -- a loss against BU that Sachs attributed to fatigue at the end of a long day.

Zouein was a bit more critical of herself, though, as she speculated that her final BU opponent was a stronger fencer than most of the competition, and that she may not have put enough effort into the bout.

"I think it was a misjudgment on my part about how much effort I needed to expend," Zouein said.

Performances like those by Zouein and Sibley -- as well as an impressive batch of fights from sophomore foilist Julia Shih -- highlighted what was, overall, a strong Tufts showing in the conference.

"Five and five in the conference to finish, that's not bad for a team that has four freshmen who have never fenced before," Sachs said. "So we have no worries. We had a minor setback [against Wellesley] and that's okay. You have to keep your eye on the bigger prize, which is NCAA's and New England's."

Sachs predicted that the surprise of losing to Wellesley would motivate his team as it prepares for the upcoming New England Championships, which will be held in Tufts' Gantcher Center a week from this Saturday.

"Sometimes when you have a loss it focuses you," Sachs said. "We're going to turn this loss into a positive focusing factor for the New England's, and I guarantee...in two weeks we'll put forth a good effort against Wellesley and other schools."