Over the course of every season, teams develop methods to cope with distractions and frequent competitions and practices. The women's fencing team is keeping its plan simple: Stay focused and keep your head down.
After numerous practices and meets, the team is hoping that some of its members will qualify for an NCAA regional tournament berth. With bouts against NYU on Saturday and Wellesley on Sunday, the Jumbos are in a position to solidify these berths. The team competed in the Wellesley Invitational last weekend against UMass-Amherst, Dartmouth, Wellesley and Smith. Only the bout with Wellesley had NCAA implications, so the team was able to play some backups and take stock of their ability in match play.
"Our strategy [going into the weekend] was to use our non-starters to gain experience. The points don't count under NCAA rules and it doesn't matter for qualifying for regionals," senior quad-captain Georgia Ranes said.
The team is optimistic about what it saw, including strong performances from many of the members who aren't used to fencing competitively.
"The team did really well. They stayed calm, kept their head, didn't crumble under pressure and it showed in their fencing," Ranes said.
Senior quad-captain Coryn Wolk agreed that the team's weekend performance bodes well for upcoming play.
"For the most part people fenced well," Wolk said. "It was a good opportunity to prepare for future events. The epee squad has a lot of potential and we're looking forward to them developing."
The captains were quick to mention that many of the girls who fenced the past weekend had very little prior experience. Wolk and Ranes mentioned freshman Pattra Audcharevorakul in particular as a newbie who has stood out in the team.
"Pattra ... only starting fencing a few months ago and it looks as though she's been fencing for years," Ranes said.
Senior quad-captain Magdalena Kwieciszewska similarly said that the squad has improved a lot since the beginning of the season.
"Many of the girls will be great assets in the future," she said.
Yet the team doesn't want to dwell too much on the developments from the weekend, as it looks forward to the meets coming up later in the season.
"The meet gave us a chance to check out Wellesley," Ranes said. "We're neck and neck with them. [The meet] allowed us to get an idea on how to approach the bout next week."
Before facing Wellesley, however, Tufts will take on NYU on Saturday. The visiting Violets come to Medford with a 6-8 record and will give Tufts a good warmup leading up to Sunday's bout against Wellesley.
"We have a meet against NYU on Saturday, a tradition every year," Ranes said. "It's always a very friendly meet, just the two of us. We hang out and chat; it's always relaxed, an afternoon to spend with another team."
