Strong Showing in Part Two of Tourney

The No. 4 Harvard women’s fencing team (17-1) cruised to its third Ivy League title yesterday with an overall undefeated record of 6-0 at the second part of the championship tournament held in Providence, R.I. After defeating Brown, 20-7, earlier in the day, the Crimson was guaranteed a share of the Ivy title. But the Crimson did not stop there, achieving its final victory against No. 6 Penn, 15-12, and clinching the top spot in the Ancient Eight.

“We came off strong,” head coach Peter Brand said. “The Ivy League Championship was ours all along. It was a real team effort.”

“[We are] really, really happy,” co-captain Emily Cross added. “Everyone fenced great and it’s really nice to finish things off with a bang.”

Freshman Noam Mills led the team to its success with a 6-0 record on the day. Following Mills’ efforts were Cross and senior epee Lisa Vastola, who each went 5-1.

Harvard had clinched the Ivy title in Mills’ final bout. Soon thereafter, cheers and excitement filled the room.

“The women jumped up and down and hugged each other,” Brand said. “The last time the women won was in 2006. We’ve been building gradually. Having some really great freshman and bringing Emily Cross back from the Olympics certainly has given us the edge this year.”

The Crimson showed a few signs of weakness throughout the day, especially in the sabre, where both Brown and Penn were able to edge out Harvard, 5-4, handing freshman Caroline Vloka two unusual losses. Vloka and teammate senior epee Maria Larsson finished the day 4-2.

But it was the epee team that secured the Ivy title for the women, beating Penn 7-2 to make up for close losses in the foil and sabre. The epee team cumulated a mere three losses in 18 bouts, which was crucial in the team’s win against Penn.

“The epee squad was fantastic,” Cross said. “They were really strong and it really helped us pull through.”

The Crimson was able to win some key bouts in order to stay in the match. Harvard relied heavily on each team member doing her part to help the Crimson secure another Ivy League Championship.

“We weren’t expected to do as well as we did,” Cross said. “Everyone really performed above and beyond expectations. What I love about this team is that everyone is really close…I think that helps us a lot when it comes to fencing in tournaments.”

The No. 9 men’s team (9-9) responded to last week’s rough outing with a decisive win over Brown, 21-6, but was unable to notch the win against No. 4 Penn, losing 16-11.

“The men really redeemed themselves today,” Brand said. “They had a close match with Penn. I think [they] really were invigorated today beating Brown.”

Four Crimson fencers went 5-1 on the day including co-captains Benji Ungar in epee and Kai Itamer-Kinter in the foil, freshman sabre Valentin Staller, and freshman epee James Hawrot.

Although Harvard’s finish at the tournament was less than ideal, the Crimson showed promise for its future—especially from freshmen Staller and Hawrot.

Both Harvard teams will compete next Saturday at the IFA tournament held in Waltham, Mass. The women will use the tournament to stay fresh before they make a run for the national title this March.

—Staff writer Melissa Schellberg can be reached at mlschell@fas.harvard.edu.