Fencing Travels for Second Scored Match

In addition to their bodies, the women on the fencing team will have to protect an undefeated record as they head to Waltham, Mass. for the Brandeis Invitational tomorrow.
The Red came out of the Cornell Invitational last Sunday with a 3-0 victory over the competition and looks to ride the momentum against some tough teams this weekend.
“I think we should do pretty well because our last two tournaments had really good results,” said sophomore Tasha Hall, who finished 7-1 overall in epee last weekend. “We beat all of the teams at our competition here.”
As the first team-scored competition, the home invitational guided the women’s training this past week in preparation for the upcoming Brandies Invitational.
“We worked on a lot of stuff that we needed to fix after our last competition,” Hall said. “We’ve been working on things like stamina and perfecting each personal move.”
While most of the Red fencers did spend the week honing their individual technique, some had to completely restructure their games the past seven days.
New rules posted by U.S. Fencing will force those competing sabre to amend their strategy, as certain moves are no longer allowed.
“Something a lot of the sabres used they suddenly isn’t allowed anymore,” Hall said. “They really have to rework their game.”
Fortunately for the Red, the rest of the team will easily shoulder any obstacles the new rules may introduce.
“Foil is stronger, this year and epee is consistently strong,” said sophomore Dana Baines, who finished 8-1 overall in foil at the Cornell Invitational. “We should continue to work well as a team and support each other when we’re not fencing.”
Despite the challenge of the new rules and some potentially tough opposition, the women enter the weekend with high expectations.
“I think we’re going to do really well, definitely better than last year,” Baines said.