The women's fencing team had its hands full at its first official competition Friday night when it traveled to Harvard for dual matches against the host Crimson and the Sacred Heart Pioneers. The Jumbos dropped both matchups, falling to nationally ranked No. 5 Harvard 22-5 and 14-13 to Sacred Heart.
Led by senior co-captain Emily Cross, a 2005 national champion and 2008 Olympic silver medalist, the Crimson went 9-0 in the foil competition. But Tufts fared respectably in sabre and epee, earning multiple bouts in each.
"I think we did about the same as what we expected," junior epee captain Amani Smathers said. "Going in we were just trying to do the best we can and not expecting to win, though the epee did beat Harvard last year 5-4. We could've done better ... I was disappointed with my match against Harvard. I still think I could've won the bout."
The epee side has been anchored by Smathers, who is also a layout editor for the Daily, and sophomore Coryn Wolk, who went 3-0 last year in her Harvard bouts and picked up another two points on Friday. Nevertheless, Wolk was disappointed with her performance against Harvard, as the epee squad was unable to beat the Crimson for the second straight year.
"We have a different team this year right now, and the people they put in against us this year were different too," Wolk said.
Indeed, Harvard's epee team sports a new look: Freshman Noam Mills, who competed for Team Israel in the Beijing Olympics this summer, went undefeated in the meet. And in foil, three Jumbos lost to Olympic silver medalist Cross.
"[Cross] was really good and really quick," freshman Meredith Paul said. "Her technique was on another level than ours. It was definitely a learning experience, facing somebody who's so good in their technique as she is."
The sabrists displayed young talent in freshmen Brianna Smith and Sarah Danly and sophomores Caccy Bowlus and Soraya Alivandi. Danly went 1-2 against Harvard but rebounded to go 2-1 against Sacred Heart. Smith and Bowlus also took individual bouts, while Alivandi won her first bout after beginning fencing just two months ago.
"Harvard's really good, and we weren't expecting to win," Danly said. "But I think we're going to be a decent team. Caccy looked really good. Now people who never fenced before on team have some experience. Some people who fence club got to fence varsity. Some people did well individually, and I'm hoping the team does well as a whole."
After being overwhelmed by Harvard, Tufts fell to Sacred Heart by a small one-point margin. It is worth noting, however, that thanks to their strong epee showing, the Jumbos won one more bout against Harvard than Sacred Heart.
"We lost really close to Sacred Heart," said Paul, who won two of her foil bouts. "I think we beat them in foil. Overall I think we did well Friday. We didn't have good results, but you can always walk away feeling good thinking you learned something."
The weekend event was Tufts' first team competition of the year and counts toward qualifications for Nationals. The Jumbos sent representatives to The Big One Invitational on Nov. 1 in Northhampton, Mass., and benefited from solid showings on the part of the epeeists, as Wolk and Smathers both earned top-eight finishes in a field of 59. Tufts' next tournament will be an individual competition held in New Jersey Dec. 7.
"Most people don't know what to expect since we didn't go last year," Wolk said of the upcoming Christmas Invitational. "But I'm just hoping to fence well."
