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Fierce competition for Tigers at Ivy League Round Robin

Women’s Fencing

It’s always the longest streaks that are the hardest to see go.

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So the Princeton women’s fencing team found out at the Ivy League Round Robin tournament that took place SundayandMondayin New York City. The Tigers had dominated this tournament since 2009, coming intoSundaywith an astounding 32-match winning streak and holding the Ivy League title for the past five years. Moreover, the women’s fencing team came intoSunday’smatch ranked No. 3 in the nation, according to CollegeFencing360. With a record of 16-4 (and having gone 11-1 in a very strong field at last week’s Northwestern Duals), it had every hope of continuing the mighty streak.

Unfortunately, taking a look at the competition would tell you that Princeton’s road to defending its title would be anything but easy. The Ivy League is home to many of the best teams in the country. In addition to Princeton, the conference also boasts No. 1 ranked Columbia Lions (16-1), No. 4 ranked Harvard Crimson (7-3-1) and No. 8 ranked Penn Quakers (14 — 6).

After dispatching of the lowly Cornell Big Red 20-7, Princeton squared off against home team Columbia. It soon came for the Lions and Tigers to see who the real king of the (concrete) jungle was. Princeton certainly hit Columbia hard with the victory in the épée section, as sophomore Elizabeth Meyers and juniors Anna Van Brummen and Isabel Ford combined to go 7-2 overall. Unfortunately, the match began to unravel for Princeton right after that, as the foil trio of sophomore Ashley Tsue and seniors Sharon Gao and Ambika Singh would fall 1-8 to Columbia’s squad. Needing a decisive victory to keep its unbeaten streak alive, the sabre team consisting of junior Desirae Major and freshmen Taylor Chin and Allison Lee could not make up the deficit, as they fell with the score of 3-6, with Princeton’s streak falling along with them.

The final match of the day against Yale would certainly be less painful, as Princeton rolled over the Bulldogs with a solid 18-9 score. Hence, Princeton was able to close the day with an overall score of 2-1, still in the hunt for the Ivy League Title.

Unfortunately, despite Princeton’s solid standing going into the second day, another victory was not meant to be. The team’s chances were severely hampered by an opening losson Mondayto the Penn Quakers. This match came down to the wire, with Princeton getting edged out by merely three wins (overall score was 15-12).

Despite demolishing Brown 24-3 and getting a close win of their own over Harvard, the Columbia Lions’ strong performance on the second day prevented Princeton of ever getting back into contention over the course of the day. The women’s team would ultimately tie for second for the tournament, a more than respectable finish given the depth of talent in the Ivy League.

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Men’s Fencing

While not sporting the same impressive streak as the women’s team, the men’s fencing squad is also among the best in the country. It came into Ivy League Round Robins sporting a record of 14-5, good for No. 8 rank in the country.

Unfortunately, its path to the top would be far more difficult than for the women’s fencing team. Even though Princeton is ranked high, most of its opponents at the meet would be ranked even higher: Columbia (10-5) at No. 2, Harvard (7-2) at No. 5 and Penn (14-6) at No. 7.

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The Tigers found early on that the victories could be few and far between. In the opening match against Columbia, they were unable to win any of the sections. Sophomore Alex House, junior Jack Hudson and senior Luke Politi would all go 1-2 in the épée section. In foil, freshman Thomas Dudley, junior Rodney Chen and senior Robert Daniluk would come close but ultimately fall 5-4. Columbia would complete its domination with a 7-2 win over the trio of freshmen Edward Chin, sophomore Peter Pak and senior Michael Wiest.The team would bounce back mightily against the Yale Bulldogs, as Princeton won all three sections en route to a 22-5 victory overall. On the day, exiting with only a loss to the top team bade well for the Tigers’ performance the next day.

Princeton started outMondayquite strong, winning a heated bout versus the Penn Quakers 15-12. Moreover, after a resounding victory over Brown 18-9, the Tigers seemed more than capable of coming back to New Jersey with title in hand.

Fate, however, had other plans. Princeton’s battle versus the Crimson turned out to be the former’s undoing. Though winning épée 6-3 and losing foil closely 4-5, the sabre team found itself unable to seal the deal, with the 3-6 loss costing Princeton a share of first place. Ultimately, the men’s team would share third place for the event.

Both the men’s and women’s teams get a well-earned rest this weekend and will travel a week fromSaturdayto compete in the Temple Duals.