WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis University men's and women's fencing teams celebrated their seniors today at the Eric Sollee Invitational, and the Judges excelled on the strips, going 9-3 with two wins over teams ranked above them in the United States College Fencing Association rankings, including a 16-11 win for the men over Duke University. The men finished the day at 5-1, while the women were 4-2.

TEAM RECORDS

• Brandeis men: 5-1 today, 14-16 overall, ranked #19 in USFCA standings.
• Brandeis women: 4-2 today, 13-19 overall, ranked #25 in USFCA standings.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Judges started the day on a high note, sweeping Division I New Jersey Institute of Technology. The #19-ranked Brandeis men upset #17 NJIT by a narrow 14-13 margin, while the women defeated the Highlanders, 18-9.
• The teams won their second match of the day by identical scores over Division III Stevens Institute of Technology – 14-13 for the men and 18-9 for the women.
• The third round of the day was the unofficial University Athletic Association championships between the Judges and NYU (#9 men, #22 women). The Judges took their first losses of the day, 9-18 on the men's side and 12-15 on the women's.
• Brandeis bounced back in the next round with big wins over Hunter College, 26-1 for the men and 22-5 for the women.
• Against Duke, ranked 11^th for the men and 4^th for the women, the men pulled the upset, 16-11, winning in sabre, 5-4, and foil, 7-2, while the epee squad was edged 4-5. The win for Brandeis against the Blue Devils was their first since 2015. The women suffered a 22-5 defeat, dropping all three weapons.
• The Judges closed out the day with a sweep of Haverford College and alumnus coach Chris Spencer '94. The men won, 19-8, while the women cruised, 24-3.

TOP PERFORMANCES – SQUADS

• Men's foil and women's sabre were the standout squads on the day, both going 5-1.
• Men's foil prevailed 9-0 against Hunter and 7-2 against NJIT, Stevens and Duke, finishing with a 6-3 win over Haverford. Their only loss was a 9-0 defeat against NYU.
• Women's sabre had three 9-0 wins, against NJIT, Hunter and Haverford. They were 6-3 victory over Stevens and NYU, with their only loss an 8-1 decision against Duke.
• Women's foil, men's sabre and men's epee each went 4-2, while women's epee was 3-3.

TOP PERFORMANCES – INDIVIDUALS

• Two Judges fencing in their final home meets of their careers led the way for the Judges individually.
• For the men, senior Luke Ritchie (Baltimore, Md./St. Paul's School) went 11-1 in foil for the team's top winning percentage of the day. He went 3-0 against NJIT, Stevens and Duke, and 2-1 against Haverford. Ritchie did not fence against Hunter or NYU.
• On the women's side, graduate student Maggie Shealy (Chapel Hill, N.C./East Chapel Hill) was 16-2, going 3-0 against five of her six opponents, with only a 1-2 record against Duke blemishing her record. It was only the second time this season Shealy had a losing record in a single match as she improved to 50-8 on the season.
• Two other men and five women also reached double figures in wins on the day.
• Graduate student Ben Rogak (E. Setauket, N.Y./Ward-Melville) led the epee squad and had the highest win total for the men, going 14-3. Rogak had a winning record against five of six opponents and was 1-1 against the sixth foe, Hunter.
• First-year Matthew Chaves (Durham, N.C./Durham Academy) was 13-5 on the day in sabre, going 3-0 against Hunter and Haverford and 2-1 against NJIT, Stevens and Duke.
• With only two active fencers in addition to Shealy, the women's sabre squad saw two more double digit competitors – sophomore Kat Xikes (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) was 13-5, while first-year Olga Sadova (Swampscott, Mass./Swampscott) was 11-7.
• Women's foil saw junior captain Alex McKee (Nyack, N.Y./Nyack) finish just behind Shealy with a 14-2 record. She posted a winning record against all six opponents, including 3-0 against NJIT, Stevens and Haverford and 1-0 against Duke.
• Junior epee Bronwyn Rothman-Hall (San Francisco, Calif./Ruth Asawa School of the Arts) was 11-5. She was 3-0 against Hunter and 2-1 against NJIT, Stevens, Duke and Haverford.

SENIOR DAY

• After the meet, the Judges honored their graduate students, seniors and a pair of juniors who are graduating early. They were
  • Graduate students Monica Aponte (San Juan, P.R./St. John's School), Maggie Shealy, and Ben Rogak
  • Seniors Luke Ritchie and Nick Quan (Mount Sinai, N.Y./Mount Sinai)
  • Juniors Tal Kronrod (Concord, Mass./Concord Carlisle) and Calla Lee (Duluth, Ga./Lambert)

UP NEXT

• The Brandeis women will host Wellesley in their annual mid-week match on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
• The Judges will close out their regular season on Feb. 10 and 11 at the Duke Invitational, with the men competing on Saturday and the women on Sunday.