M., W. Fencing Struggle Over Weekend

After playing impressively in winning four out of five matches last weekend, the Harvard women’s fencing team hit a bump in the road on Sunday. The Crimson (9-4) split four matches in a tournament at Penn, dropping contests to the Quakers and Northwestern, and beating Rutgers and Drew.

In the match-up against host Penn (13-0), Harvard managed a 6-3 victory in the foil but lost both the sabre and epee competitions 8-1 en route to a 19-8 Penn win. The Crimson also lost a close match to Northwestern 15-12.

The Crimson’s two victories on the weekend were dominating performances as it trounced both Rutgers and Drew 22-5.

Meanwhile, the men’s fencing team could not build on any momentum it gained from last weekend’s impressive showing at Brandeis, and was swept by Penn, Drew and Rutgers on Sunday at a match held at Penn.

With the losses, the Crimson (4-5) fall behind both the Quakers and Columbia in the Ivy standings. Against Penn (10-2), Harvard put up a valiant fight, beating the Quakers 5-4 in both the sabre and epee events. However, in the foil competition, Penn dominated the Crimson with an 8-1 victory sealing the 16-11 Quaker win.

The other two matches were much more lopsided, with Drew beating Harvard 17-10 and Rutgers winning 18-9.

The men and women will return to action against MIT on Wednesday at 5pm.