PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The University of Pennsylvania men's and women's fencing teams completed the opening day of action at the Ivy League Round-Robins on Saturday, with each side picking up a victory over a top 10 team in the United States Fencing Coaches Association (USFCA) poll.
The women, ranked #11 in the USFCA poll, competed against three teams on Saturday, going 2-1, highlighted by a 16-11 win over #3 Columbia. The Quakers also picked up a 22-5 victory over Brown and fell to #1 Princeton, 21-6.
The men, #8 in the USFCA poll, went to battle twice on Saturday, picking up a 14-13 win over #7 Princeton before falling to #4 Harvard, 19-8.
A well-balanced effort from the women paced the team past Columbia, with each weapon picking up at least four points, with the sabreists leading the way, going 7-2 against the Lions. All weapon groups had tremendous success against Brown, with the sabre team and the foilists each finishing 8-1, with the épée group finishing 6-3.
The men's battle with Princeton went down to the wire. The Tiger sabre squad outdueled the Quakers, 6-3 and the Penn épéeists picked up a 6-3 category win, knotting the match. With things square at 4-all on the foil side, Bryce Louie picked up the deciding point for Penn, setting off a wild celebration.
On the women's side, multiple fencers in each weapon ended the day near the top of individual leaderboards. In épée, Jessica Liang won seven of nine bouts, tying her for second place, while Chloe Daniel finished one bout back at 6-3. Liang's seven wins leave her one shy of 100 for her Penn career, while Daniel increased her career win total to 94.
Amber White and Vivian Lu produced similar results in sabre, as White finished the day with seven victories in nine bouts, putting her in a tie for second, with Lu finishing one bout back at 6-3, good for fourth. In foil, Katina Proestakis Ortiz and Sabrina Cho both won five of nine bouts and currently share fifth place.
On the men's side, Eliot Herbst won five of his six bouts in épée, good for a tie for second place. Emon Daroian, a reigning two-time All-Ivy selection, finished 3-3 and sits in a tie for seventh. In foil, Blake Broszus went 4-2, pushing his win total for the year to an even 40, while positioning himself in a tie for fourth. In sabre, Xiteng Lin won three of six bouts, putting him in a tie for seventh.
The women will wrap the Round-Robins against a trio of top 10 teams in #5 Harvard, #4 Cornell, and #10 Yale, while the men will compete against #11 Yale and #2 Columbia.
Women's Results
vs. #1 Princeton -- L, 6-21 (3-6
épée, 2-7 foil, 1-8 sabre)
vs. #3 Columbia -- W, 16-11 (5-4
épée, 4-5 foil, 7-2 sabre)
vs. Brown -- W, 22-5 (6-3
épée, 8-1 foil, 8-1 sabre)
Men's Results
vs. #7 Princeton -- W, 14-13 (6-3
épée, 5-4 foil, 3-6 sabre)
vs. #4 Harvard -- L, 8-19 (4-5
épée, 3-6 foil, 1-8 sabre)
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