MIT Skewers Swordswomen; Crimson Veterans Upset, 11-5

The MIT women's fencing team last night out-dueled the surprised Harvard squad 11-5.

The meet was the first of the season for the Crimson, which has the same starting lineup as it did for last year's 10-1 performance.

The Engineers were led by the strong showing of Amelia Phillips, who notched two of her three bouts. Phillips led a powerful squad that outmaneuvered and out-attacked the Crimson.

The meet was also the first for Shelley Burman, the new women's coach. "It was hard to figure out what happened," Burman said.

"This wasn't representative of what they can do. They all looked nervous. We weren't parrying," he added.

Kathy Lowry, the Harvard standout with a solid 3-1 foil showing, also criticized Harvard's lack of parrying. "Instead of parrying we just attacked into their attacks--we never had the right of way," she said.

Susan Rivitz commented that the team fenced too tentatively and didn't lunge enough. "We weren't overconfident," she said.

Senior captain Jenny Laforet said the loss "is going to really wake us up," adding that the team was not discouraged and was looking forward to Saturday's meet with Southern Mass.

Laforet said the team members were bothered by the frequent interruption of their bouts because of the technical difficulties with the electronic scoring devices.

"It definitely broke our concentration, but that's not an excuse for losing," Laforet added.

Coach Burman said he believes that his veteran squad did not play up to its potential. 'They're clearly one of the leading teams in New England, and I expect them to do very well in the future," he added