The Hopkins women’s fencing team had a strong showing at the Brandeis Invitational, finishing the day having captured three of five potential wins, improving their record to 8-2 for the young season. The Lady Jays beat Yale (18-9), MIT (17-10), and Boston College (14-13) but tough losses to host Brandeis (15-12) and Brown (18-9) dampened an otherwise successful day.
Hopkins was able to get off to a quick start, feeling refreshed after a short two hour flight to Massachusetts. “Because we were able to fly to Boston, the trip to Brandeis was actually not too bad,” explained junior captain Jackie Heath. “Our flight was under two hours, so compared to the two to four–hour bus rides we normally have to New Jersey or Philadelphia, it seemed very reasonable. I think people would have felt much more exhausted if we had driven up all that way.”
The Lady Jays opened the tournament in determined fashion, emerging victorious in all three weapons en route to the win. Sophomore Rachel Kalina and juniors Kathleen Rand and Katherine Simeon each won two bouts for a 6-3 win in Sabre. Next, freshmen Ashley Lau and Rachel Viqueira and junior Jackie Heath followed suit in Foil as Hopkins would win 7-2. Épée was the tightest match as the Lady Jays took home the victory 5-4 on the ninth and final bout. Leading the team in Épée was freshman Shiting Liu who won all three of her bouts.
In the second round against MIT, Hopkins won only Foil (9-0) but tight decisions in Sabre and Épée led to the overall Hopkins victory. Hopkins utterly dominated Foil as Viqueira and Lau each swept their bouts.
“The freshman class this year has added many strong fencers to our team,” Heath stated. “They’ve definitely made us a stronger force to be reckoned with. The skill sets they’ve brought to practice have caused the rest of the team to improve as well. The overall increase in talent has helped us feel more comfortable relying on each other during the intensity of competition.”
Next for Hopkins would prove to be the tightest contest of the afternoon as the Lady Jays remained victorious with a 14-13 win over Boston College. Rand and Simeon paced the Jays in Sabre, with Rand clinching the win in the eighth bout. Hopkins then received two wins from Viqueira, Lau, and Heath as the Jays won 6-3 in Foil. The Blue Jays won just three contests in Épée, but that proved to be enough as the Jays came away with the overall win. After the victory Heath said, “Our ability to share strategy with each other really made the difference in a lot of close bouts. In the end, each of these tough victories allowed us to come up with the overall team win.”
In the final two rounds the Jays saw their win streak shattered, as they fell to both Brown and host Brandeis. Heath acknowledged the struggles, saying, “For most of the team, our losses were all mental. Brown has an extremely strong team, and our loss to them caused many people to lose their positive attitudes. This, combined with the physical fatigue many teammates were starting to feel towards the end of the day, really made the difference while facing Brandeis immediately after.”
Against Brown, Hopkins was swept in all three weapons. In Foil, freshman Abigail Delamater went 2-0 in a tight 5-4 Bears win. Brown ended any hopes for a Hopkins victory with a 7-2 win in Épée. Liu earned the only two wins for the Lady Jays.
In the final round Brandeis would end up on top 15-12. Hopkins started with a dominant 7-2 win in Sabre, paced by three wins from Simeon. Brandeis proved resilient however, coming back and winning Foil (6-3) and Épée (7-2) to take the overall victory. In Foil, Health would lead the Jays with two wins.
Overall on the day, Simeon paced the Lady Jays with a 10-4 record. She now sits at a 203-76 collegiate career record. Heath went 9-4 in Foil for the Jays to improve her record to 16-6 on the season and 184-73 in her career.
Heath offered insight into the team’s potential, saying, “I think our team is still trying to find its best dynamic. During meets, when multiple teammates are fencing at the same time, it’s been tough for some of the new fencers to balance efforts put towards succeeding individually with those towards contributing to overall energy of the group. I think we will really have the opportunity to become more ‘in-sync’ after our intense twice-a-day intersession practices. The team should be improved both physically and mentally by the time of our next meet.”
The Jays will now take their finals, rest up, and start the second half of their season on Jan. 27 at the Philadelphia Invitational.
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