On November 10, the Stevens men’s and women’s fencing teams attended the Vassar Invitational in Poughkeepsie, NY, where they competed against a slate of competitive opponents.
The men’s team came away with a final score of 4-2 after competing against Long Island University, Vassar College, Cornell University, Cleveland State University, Yale University, and Sacred Heart University. The Ducks lost to Yale (6-21) and Sacred Heart (11-16).
Against Long Island University, the men’s epee team pulled a perfect 9-0 score, with men’s foil and sabre scoring additional wins to allow a decisive defeat over the Sharks. Sophomore Noah Tumibay, junior Andrew Yurovchak, and senior Nicholas Smith posted 3-0 for epee, and first-year Dev Badlani went 3-0 for foil.
The men’s team pulled through against Cleveland State with perfect 3-0 scores from second-year Tyler Kometani in sabre, first-year David Trubetski in foil, and Yurovchak in epee. Almost every fencer on the men’s lineup contributed a win to give the Ducks the victory.
Against Vassar College, the foil squad pulled through with a 6-3 tally, with the epee and sabre squads registering four wins each to pull the men’s team through. Against Cornell University, epee went 6-3, with Tumibay, sophomore Riley Parker, and Smith each only dropping one bout. Second-year Cyrus Erachshaw pulled in two wins for sabre, while each foilist pulled in one win.
At the end of the day, the men’s fencing team came away with some incredible highlights. Yurovchak earned eleven victories in the fifteen bouts he fenced. Badlani led the foils with nine victories, and senior John Morreale led the sabre squad with eight wins.
The women’s fencing team went 1-5 on Sunday, taking a victory over Cleveland State but falling to Wellesley, Sacred Heart University, Cornell University, Tufts University, and Denison University.
Against Cleveland State, the epee squad took seven victories, with second-year Grace Hicks pulling a perfect 3-0. First-year Eren Kokes and senior Renny Victoria each took two wins. The foil squad went 6-3, with all three foilists pulling two wins. Sabre added three more tallies as senior Alyssa Ip scored two, and first-year Ashlyn Leung brought one more.
The Ducks fell 13-14 against Sacred Heart, with both the foil and sabre squads going 5-4 while epee posted 3 victories. Seniors Sofia Savchuk and Elizabeth MacDonald both posted two wins for foil, while second-year Sasha Craine and Leung won two a piece for sabre.
The women’s epee squad had an impressive showing against Tufts and Dension, posting 6-3 and 5-4, respectively. Craine earned a perfect 3-0 against Wellesley for sabre.
Overall, Hicks led the team with eleven victories on Sunday. Craine and Leung together won 16 of the 21 victories sabre walked away with. Kokes made her collegiate debut, winning seven of her 17 bouts.
“I’m super proud of the way the women’s team fenced today. Battling twisted ankles, bad knees, and a virus that swept through the campus, the team really picked each other up against some really tough competition,” Head Coach Jim Carpenter notes.
The men’s team will host the MACFA Group “A” vs. Group “B” Meet in Canavan Arena this coming Sunday. The women’s team will continue their season on November 22, where they will face Columbia and Johns Hopkins University.
