Fencing: Tiger squads finish 4-1 in 1st dual meets

Both fencing teams looked very strong this weekend in the Penn State Duals, the first dual meet of the season. Only undefeated Penn State beat either the men's or women's squad, leavingPrinceton with a desire to show whatit's made of as the season continues.

“I think we’re off to a great start,” senior epeeist andcaptain Eunice Chan said. “We didn’t even have our full team this time because several of our starters were away for the World Cup, but we really held our own.”

That might have been putting it mildly. The women defeated Vassar, Sacred Heart, NYU and North Carolina. The Tar Heels, who lost 21-6, came closest to winning of all the teams the Tigers defeated. The largest margin of victory for the women was their impressive 24-3 victory over NYU. The numbers were similar, though somewhat less dramatic, on the men’s side. The men easily handled the same teams as the women, and they too thrashed NYU, defeating them 21-6.

Senior foilist Alex Mills, captain of the men’s team, was especially proud of the saber squad, which ended the day with an impressive 34-11 record. It was led by sophomores Robert Stone and Philip Dershwitz, who picked up 11 wins apiece.

Lucile Jarry, a senior foilist, went 12-3 on the day, tying for the best record on her team with another foilist, freshman Sharon Gao. Gao, along with Robert Daniluk, a freshman foilist on the men’s side whose 10-5 record was one of the best on his team, gave Princeton confidence in its youngest fencers.

“The freshmen really acclimated themselves to the format of the dual meet,” Chan said. She explained that the adjustment can be difficult because of the pressure put on a fencer when a bout is determined by onlyfive touches instead of 15, as it was in the team’s first meet. “You kind of have to get to know your opponent’s style immediately.”

However, along with these impressive performances came some disappointment. Both teams fell to Penn State by a single bout, 14-13.

“We know we could have gone undefeated, and it’s a little frustrating that we didn’t,” Mills said.

Several members were missing from both squads. Michael Wiest, a freshman saberist, and Eve Levin, a sophomore foilist who took silver in the NCAA Championship last year, were both competing in World Cup tournaments. Hyun-Kyung Yuh, another sophomore foilist who finished in the top10 in last year’s championship, missed the duals due to injury. The feeling seemed to be that these absencesmight have made the difference.

“I think if we had had our full team we wouldn’t have had a problem to clinch that 14th bout,” Chan said. She also said that she was proud of freshmen like Gao and that tough losses like the loss to Penn State would turn out to be excellent learning experiences.

Mills agreed but added that the Tigers still could have pulled out the win.

“We just came up short a couple of times where we would not have expected to,” he said. “We expect great things from ourselves.”

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As they continue to adjust to what Chan called a “new team dynamic” created by talented young fencers, both squads look forward to facing the Nittany Lions again. They will have that opportunity later this season, and they will surely be looking to show that they are the superior team.

“I really think that’s a winnable dual meet,” Mills said of the next encounter between Princeton and Penn State. “Especially after losing such a really close meet, we’re really going to be looking forward tothat.”