SPORTS BRIEF: Women’s Fencing Hosts Tufts, Dominates Jumbos Yet Again

The Harvard women’s fencing team does not compete at home very often—but when it does, the Crimson makes it count.

Led by co-captain Caroline Vloka and sophomore Alex Kiefer, Harvard (6-1) continued its early success Saturday with a 22-4 home victory over Tufts (0-1) at the Malkin Athletic Center.

One year ago, the Crimson trounced the Jumbos, 20-7, in its only home dual match of the season.

With an added year of experience under their belts, Vloka and Kiefer—NCAA champions in the saber and foil, respectively—helped widen this year’s margin of victory over Tufts, which has never beaten Harvard.

“Just from previous experience—my being a senior—we’ve never really had any problems [with the Jumbos],” Vloka said. “We’ve blown them out of the water every time. We weren’t really worried, not to sound cliched.”

Vloka and Kiefer each went undefeated in their three bouts this weekend, helping Harvard to its 29th straight victory at home since 2002-03.

Saturday’s win marked the latest positive showing for the Crimson this fall. Last month, Vloka took gold in the sabre division at the season-opening Garret Open, where in the foil Kiefer matched her teammate’s accomplishment. The squad then went 5-1 at the Penn State Invitational two weeks later, dropping Temple, North Carolina, NYU, Sacred Heart, and Vassar while losing to defending national champion Penn State.

“I don’t think I’ve ever done this well, so I hope to keep it going,” said Vloka, who remains undefeated on the year.