Fencing Teams Slice Through Brandeis

In their first home matches of the season, the Harvard men’s and women’s fencing teams judiciously dismissed the Brandeis Judges last night before a large crowd at the Malkin Athletic Center.

Both Crimson squads cruised to solid wins as the women won 19-8 and the men were victorious with a 17-10 overall team score.

“It was nice to have our first home meet against a quality opponent,” said co-captain Ellen Schulz. “Team morale is definitely high after this win.”

For the women (5-1) it was their first win over a varsity squad this season and their third straight against Brandeis. The Crimson opened the season with four wins over club teams and a loss to MIT at the Brown Invitational two weeks ago.

Although Brandeis has a well-established team, the Crimson women breezed through each of the three types of competition.

In the foil component, Schulz posted a perfect 3-0 mark as fellow co-captain Nicole Jarrett and sophomore Elizabeth Blase both went 2-1 to win 7-2 overall.

“As a foil squad, a 7-2 win really is a decisive victory,” Schulz said.

The Crimson women continued rolling in the remaining two portions of the match, winning both the epee and the sabre with 6-3 scores.

In the sabre component, Sian Kleindienst was 2-0 before being substituted for Asya Agulnik, who finished 1-0. Eunice Yei was 2-1 and Amy Bei rounded out the scoring with a 1-2 mark to capture the 6-3 overall win.

The epee component, which has been an area where the Crimson has lacked depth and experience according to Coach Peter Brand, rebounded nicely last night. The epee division was led by a dominating 3-0 performance by senior Tamara Knutsen and 2-1 and 1-2 tallies by sophomores Sarah Park and Rebecca Cantu, respectively.

Knutsen, who had joined the team initially as a foil fencer, was asked to switch to epee by Brand. Despite the different demands of the two swords, Knutsen has managed to excel.

“Frankly, I thought [the change in swords] was going to be very difficult for Tamara to accept,” Brand said. “However, to my great surprise, she dove right in and worked very hard to become our best female fencer.”

Knutsen finished sixth at a preseason tournament at Penn State and finished last season as a First-Team All-Ivy selection for the epee. This season promises to be more of the same, according to teammates.

“Tamara’s doing really well,” Park said. “She’s having a really great season so far.”

The Crimson men had a slightly more difficult time with Brandeis than their female counterparts, but they still emerged victorious with a 17-10 overall score. It was Harvard’s first varsity win after a tough loss against MIT earlier in the season.

“They were a good team, better than we thought, but we pulled it out,” junior co-captain David Wollenberg said. “It was good to get a win.”

The most dominating showing came during the epee portion of the match, as Harvard blew past Brandeis 8-1. Junior Derek Lindblom and freshman Michael Sotos both went 3-0 and were joined in the ranks of the undefeated by sophomore Steve Milder as he finished 2-0. The lone loss belonged to senior Patrick Aber, who substituted in for Milder.

In the sabre portion, the team went 5-4 as juniors Scott Silver and Nick Horbaczewski posted 2-1 wins and Wollenberg finished with a 1-2 record.

The only blemish on an otherwise good match was a 4-5 team loss in the foil competition. Though freshman Dan Zlotoff started 2-1 the Crimson finished with two 1-2 showings by junior co-captain Ben Schmidt and freshman Phil Sherrill.

This Saturday, both Crimson teams will face off against two strong Columbia squads. Though the Lions pose an early Ivy challenge to the Crimson, Brand and his teams are looking forward to the difficult matches.

“We have a tough schedule,” Brand said. “But I am encouraged by the team’s spirit and hard work.”

“Everyone is pumped,” Jarrett adds. “We’re going to come out fighting.”