NYU sabres ruin day for W. Fencing

When the Penn women's fencing team goes down, it goes down with a fight. For the second time this season, the Quakers were defeated by a single bout, losing 14-13 at the hands of NYU in the third match of the four-match Brandeis Multi-Meet on Sunday. Penn freshman sabre Christina Verigan, who went 1-2 against the Violets, lost both bouts by a single touch and was exasperated with the narrow defeat. "It's frustrating to lose 5-4 bouts because I know I'm on par with my opponents," she said. "You know that you're right there and just can't finish." Verigan, along with senior captain Heba Abdulla and sophomore Abby Lifter, made up the sabre squad that got bested by NYU, 7-2. Determined not to succumb to the Violets, the foil squad of senior Amy Hozer and freshmen Lauren Staudinger and Stacey Wertlieb kept the Quakers in the match with a 7-2 victory of their own. But the Violets escaped victorious with a 5-4 defeat over the Penn epee squad of senior Sandra Yens, sophomore Mindy Nguyen and freshmen Kim Linton and Julia Blank. However, this loss was just a mere blemish on the scorecard as the Quakers were able to defeat Brown and MIT by 15-12 margins in the first two matches and demolish host Brandeis 24-3 to end the day with a very respectable 3-1 record, upping their season record to 5-3. Throughout the day, Penn was led by its foilists. Despite the absence of senior Margo Katz, who was home with the flu, the squad was nearly invincible, finishing the day with 31 bout wins and five bout losses. Staudinger, who went 12-0, raised her record on the season to 20-1 and has now won 16 straight bouts. Fellow freshman Wertlieb lost only one bout for the day, going 11-1. "The foil squad did wonderfully and I was especially happy with Lauren [Staudinger] and Stacey [Wertlieb]," said Hozer, who won eight of her 12 bouts. "We pulled together and with the new sabre team, it is important for us to do well." The Penn epee squad also turned in a good performance, compiling a total bout record of 21-15 on the day. Linton led the way, winning nine of her 12 bouts. "Linton did very well, Mindy [Nguyen] picked it up and Julia [Blank] picked it up," Penn coach Dave Micahnik said. "By the end of the day, the epee squad turned in some pretty good numbers." The epeeists were able to turn in victories against Brandeis and MIT, but came up short against Brown and NYU. Penn's inexperienced sabres did not fare quite as well as the foilists and epeeists. The squad was able to defeat a weak Brandeis team, 7-2, but lost its other three matches, finishing the day with a 15-21 bout record. "We still need a lot of work," said Verigan, who was able to win seven of 12 bouts. "I think we need to fence more like sabre fencers. We're lacking the sabre mentality -- we have to adapt more and learn how to be more aggressive." "The sabres are growing, developing and trying to learn their weapon," Micahnik said. "The effort and the improvement is there, but it's tough when we get up against more experienced opponents." While the sabres have not responded as quickly as the team would have liked, the freshmen have adjusted remarkably to fencing on the collegiate level. At Brandeis, the five Quakers freshmen -- led by Staudinger, who has lost only one bout all season -- compiled 42 of Penn's 67 victories. "The freshmen will be the core of the team for many years to come, and it is a very good sign," Micahnik said. The Quakers will return to action on Saturday when they square off against Harvard, Johns Hopkins and host Temple. The Red and Blue will look to improve on their 5-3 record as they head into the heart of the season. "This weekend, when I go out there, I'm going to be confident and more driven," Verigan said. And the Quakers will not settle for anything less than a sweep. "With Margo coming back and a few good practices, we definitely have a chance of winning all three bouts," Hozer said.