The fencing teams got mixed results on Sunday at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Brandeis Invitational held in Cambridge, Mass., their last tune-up event before Ivy League competition begins. The women went 3-2, while the men finished 1-4.
"The women's side did fantastic," said Head Coach Atilio Tass.
The women lost to Ivy League foes Princeton and Penn State, a perennial power currently ranked No. 1 in the country, but defeated Tufts University, Duke University and New York University.
"I was very pleased that we were able to beat NYU and Duke, especially knowing going in that we were fairly evenly matched with them," said tri-captain Christine Livoti '08.
The saber squad led the way for the Bears, going 32-13. Deb Gorth '09.5 paced the squad with a 12-3 record, followed by Randy Alevi '10, who went 11-4 on the day and Charlotte Gartenberg '08, who finished with a 9-6 performance. Other standout fencers included epeeist Jennifer Hausmann '07 (8-5) and foilist Kirsten Lynch '10 (9-6).
"I'm really impressed with the performance of our first-years," Gorth said. "I just got back (after a semester off), and it blew me away."
Livoti said she was pleased with the way the team has been pulling together after coming back from winter break a week early. "After spending that week together, practicing every day - you see it a lot in our performance as a team," she said.
The men's team was hurt by the loss of foilist Nick Bender '09, one of its key fencers, who twisted his ankle during warm-ups. They also faced some of the top competition in the country in No. 3 Penn State and No. 10 Princeton.
Bender's injury proved costly for Brown as the foil squad went 12-33 on the day.
"The results were not reflective of how well they performed," Tass said. "When one of the really good fencers gets hurt and cannot fence, it was not the very best lineup that we could have placed out there."
The men did beat Yeshiva University but lost to Penn State, Duke, Princeton and NYU.
Dan Mahoney '07 paced the saber squad at 9-6, and Adam Yarnell '10 led the epeeists with a 7-4 record, but no foilist finished above .500.
Ivy League competition begins this weekend when the Bears travel to Philadelphia to compete at the University of Pennsylvania. The second Ivy League competition will be held at Harvard in Cambridge, Mass. on Feb. 25.
"I'm looking forward to getting a second shot at Princeton," Gorth said.
Last year was the first time Brown fenced in the Ivy League. That year, each team won only one match - the women defeated Princeton and the men beat Yale.
"The team is at the level to compete in the Ivy League," Tass said. "It is a very strong league to be a part of, but this year we are hoping to do even better than last year."
Gorth is optimistic. "I've been on the team for two years, and this year we're definitely putting a stronger team out there," she said. "I think we have a better chance to win some matches than we did last year."
