Charge and retreat. Advance and regress.
These words were used more than just to describe the heated action on the fencing strip, but could also trace out Penn men's and women's fencing teams this season. Yesterday at the Ivy League Round Robin No. 1, both were charging.
"Generally, I thought that we were about as ready as we could be," coach Dave Micahnik said.
The men's team went 2-1, defeating Yale and Princeton while losing to Harvard.
The women's team went an impressive 3-1, defeating the Elis, the Tigers and Cornell while losing a 15-12 nailbiter to defending national champions Harvard.
"Personally, I'm really proud of how the team came together. We had some great foil and sabre victories which really kept us in the running against Harvard," senior captain Katelyn Sherry said. "Overall, I'm really pleased with how everyone fenced."
Against the Crimson, the women won both the foil and sabre weapons, but an 8-1 loss in epee doomed the Quakers.
"They are a tough team, and every bout counted," Sherry said. "It was really neck and neck until the last few bouts."
After the struggle against the Crimson, the women's team barely scraped by Cornell, 14-13. That time around, the epee and foil teams each posted 6-3 victories, making up for the sabre losing 7-2. Sherry blamed the close final score on the emotionally draining Harvard match.
"We were fortunate to escape Cornell," Micahnik said. "Cornell was a trap."
The men's matchup against the defending champions had a similar intensity. Both teams had their members encircled around the fencing strip, offering support for the two fencers in heated battle. The winner of a bout would thrust his hands up in excited emotion, while more than once, the loser would throw off his mask and give the judge a glare, as if saying, 'Are you kidding me? That was a point?'
The Quakers ended up losing a tough match to Harvard, 19-8.
With one successful Round Robin already under their belts, the men and women can now look forward to the second round robin in two weeks. While throwing Harvard off the schedule, Penn will now need to deal with an undefeated Columbia team, among others.
"We have Brown and Columbia next weekend, and I think Columbia will be tough," Sherry said.
With that in mind, whether or not the Quakers advance or regress remains to be seen.
