WALTHAM, Mass. – At the 2018 Eric Sollee Invitational, the annual event that the Judges cohost with MIT in alternating years, the Brandeis University fencing teams each posted a 3-2 record. Both teams posted wins over Hunter College (Men, 18-9; Women, 23-4) and Haverford (Men, 19-8; Women, 16-11) in the first two rounds. In their third round of the day, the men defeated Stevens, 19-8, while the women suffered a 17-10 defeat.
In the fourth round, against their University Athletic Association rivals from NYU, the Violets picked up wins of 19-8 on the men's side and 18-9 on the women's side. In the final matches of the day, the Judges split a pair of narrow matches with New Jersey Institute of Technology. The Highlanders won the men's match, 14-13, as they took two of the final three bouts to break a 12-12 deadlock. The women wrapped their match up a bit sooner, but Brandeis emerged with a 14-13 win of their own.
On the men's side, the top squad was the foil fencers, who went 4-1 on the day, including an 8-1 win over Hunter, 7-2 over Haverford, 6-3 against Stevens and a narrow 5-4 win over NJIT. Senior Elishua Litle (Haifa, Israel/ Reali Beit Beram) and sophomore Ian Quin (Ramsey, N.J./Ramsey) led the squad with six wins each.
The epee and saber squads each went 3-2 on the afternoon. Saber just missed going 5-0, as they defeated Stevens, 8-1, Haverford, 7-3, and NJIT, 6-3, but dropped the NYU and Hunter matches, 5-4. Senior Kyle Berney (Shreveport, La./Caddo Magnet School) had a team-best 9-1 record on the day, while sophomore Leon Rotenstein (Ashland, Mass./Ashland) was 9-2. Senior Hunter Stusnick (New Vernon, N.J./Chatham) led the epee squad with seven wins, as they won 6-3 against Hunter and 5-4 against Stevens and Haverford.
The women's foil squad matched their male counterparts with a 4-1 record on the day, cruising past Hunter, 8-1, and pulling out 6-3 wins against Stevens, NJIT and Haverford. Their only loss was 6-3 against NYU. Junior Joanne Carminucci (Brewster, N.Y./North Salem) led the squad with an 11-2 record, including 3-0 marks against Stevens and NJIT, for the team's second-highest win total of the day. Sophomore Jessica Gets (Morganville, N.J./Marlborough) had a winning record in four of five matches, earning eight wins.
The epee squad went 3-2 on the day, but similar to men's saber, were just short of a 5-0 mark. They defeated Hunter, 8-1, Haverford, 7-2, and NYU, 6-3, while dropping 5-4 decisions to Stevens and NJIT. Senior Liz Feller (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Hendrick Hudson) had a team-high 12 wins on the day, taking just two losses. Rookies Jamie Noh (New York, N.Y. / Brearley) and Jessica Spear (Spofford, N.H./Keene) each earned five wins for the Judges. Women's saber went 2-3, edging NJIT, 5-4, and wining 7-2 over a shorthanded Hunter squad. Senior Laura Broffman (East Norwich, N.Y. / Oyster Bay) led the squad with seven wins.
Next weekend, the Judges head to North Carolina for the Duke Invitational, where they will meet top teams from Duke, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Penn State and Johns Hopkins.