"If we win three bouts, I'll be happy," fencing coach Jason Sachs told the Daily before Tufts' midweek match at Div. I Harvard.
But on Wednesday night, the Jumbo fencers far surpassed that goal, winning a total of six bouts against a dominant Crimson team that won the national championship two years ago.
What's more, five of those wins came for the epee squad, giving it an overall 5-4 victory.
Freshman Coryn Wolk was sensational in the effort, sweeping her opponents to post a 3-0 mark against Harvard. Wolk turned in an impressive comeback against Harvard's A fencer, bringing the score from 0-2 to 4-4 before scoring the final touch.
Wolk has been solid for the Jumbos all season, going 9-3 in last weekend's Brandeis Invitational to lead the team to commanding wins over Brandeis and Boston College. Sophomore epee co-captains Amani Smathers and Becca Hughes each chipped in a bout against Harvard as well.
Tufts got the final win of the evening from senior sabre fencer Lauren Kari, who put the squad on the board in the 8-1 loss. The Crimson blanked the Tufts foil squad, going 9-0 on the night led by some of the nation's best foilists. Despite winning only one bout collectively, both the Tufts sabres and foils fenced well.
With the six victories, Tufts doubled its win tally from last year's Harvard match, when Smathers took two bouts and then-sophomore foil captain Christine Lee earned one in the 24-3 loss.
-by Carly Helfand
