'Cliffe Fencers Split Matches

The Radcliffe fencing team staged a reenactment of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre on Saturday as it handily cut down the swordswomen from Southeastern Massachusetts U., 7-2.

Powered by the blade brandishing prowess of freshman foiler Celine Larkin, the Cliffe trio showed little Cupid-inspired affection towards their Corsair counterparts. Both Larkin and Captain Sarah Kimball sliced their way to 3-0 sweeps of their opponents, with only Leonida Rassenas finishing on the short end of the sword, losing two of her three bouts.

"We're still not in as good shape as we'd like," said Rassenas, "SMU was not a strong team and they're nothing like Yale whom we fence against next Saturday."

While Radcliffe was successful Saturday in polishing off some of the rust from its January layoff, the swordswomen were not as fortunate last week in a match against MIT, as the Kendall Sq. crowd outengineered the Cliffe, 9-7.

Again it was Larkin who emerged as the premier Zorro of the squad as she foiled all four of her MIT challengers to remain unbeaten on the season. Kimball recovered from a slow, and slightly nervous, start to even her score at two bouts apiece.

And Rassenas, hampered with some of those post-exam blues, was only able to salvage one bout in four to round out the Crimson's scoring. Susan Lambiris and Sally Spears were the other Radcliffe duellists and both were slain twice.

"MIT was a very good team and we were somewhat nervous," said Lambiris, "But we are an inexperienced team with a lot of talent and if we can just pull together we have a good shot at finishing the season with a respectable record." Radcliffe's slate is now 2-2.