WALTHAM, Mass.- At the 2014 Eric Sollee Invitational hosted by Brandeis University, the men's and women's fencing teams posted a combined 9-1 record. Both squads started the day 4-0 before their final match against NYU in the unofficial UAA Championship. The women's team cruised to a 20-7 victory to finish the invitational a perfect 5-0 while the men faltered in a 12-15 loss to their rivals but completed the day with an excellent 4-1 mark.
In their other matches of the invitational, the women dropped just one weapon on their way to wins over Haverford (17-10), Hunter (22-5), NJIT (22-5), and Stevens (21-6). The saber and foil squads were undefeated for the day while the epeeists posted two perfect meets against Hunter and NJIT.
The men started off strong as well with victories over the same four teams as the women. They defeated Haverford (22-5), Hunter (21-6), NJIT (21-6), and Stevens (20-7). In their only loss of the invitational, the Judges were locked in a tight match with the Violets. After eight bouts had been fought in each weapon, the score was even at 12-12. The next bout up pitted Brandeis' senior foil Julian Cardillo (Medford, Mass./St. Johns Prep) against NYU senior Christian Vastola (Briarcliff Manor, N.Y./Briarcliff). In a back-and-forth duel, Vastola won 5-3 and pushed the lead to 13-12 for the Violets. Over on the saber strip, junior Ben Loft (Basking Ridge, N.J./Ridge) was unable to hold off sophomore Andrew Kelly (South Orange, N.J./Columbia) who earned a 5-2 victory and the clinching point in an eventual 15-12 win for NYU.
On the women's side, their top two individual performances came from the foilists. Recording the most wins for the day was sophomore Caroline Mattos (Cumberland, R.I./LaSalle Acad.) who went an undefeated 11-0 over four matches. Next was senior Vikki Nunley (Lebanon, N.J./Voorhees) who also had an excellent performance in four matches, racking up a 10-1 record.
Leading the saber squad in wins was sophomore Deborah Abiri (Old Westbury, N.Y./North Shore) who compiled a 9-2 tally for the invitational while rookies Nina Sayles (Mamaroneck, N.Y./Loomis-Chaffee) and Ashley Jean (Norwood, Mass./Fontbonne Academy) had eight victories apiece.
The epeeists were paced by Gwen Mowell (Wyckoff, N.J./Indian Hills) who went 10-2 and 2-0 in each of their 9-0 wins over Hunter and NJIT. Classmate Sonya Glickman (Valhalla, N.Y./Valhalla) chipped in with nine victories.
On the men's side, junior saber Adam Mandel (White Plains, N.Y./Masters School) set the bar with an 11-1 record including 3-0 performances against Haverford and Stevens. Classmate Jess Ochs-Willard (Montclair, N.J./Montclair) also had a strong day with an 8-3 mark.
The foilists were paced by junior Noah Berman (Palo Alto, Calif./Palo Alto) who racked up a 10-2 tally while classmate Ethan Levy (Great Neck, N.Y./Great Neck South) tacked on nine more victories for the weapon that went 5-0 for the invitational.
Leading the epee squad was sophomore Ari Feingersch (Coral Springs, Fla./J.P. Taravella) with nine wins while classmate Tom Hearne (Holmdel, N.J./Ranney School) added seven victories for the day.
Both teams are back in action next weekend for the Duke Invitational on Saturday February 8th.