Women's saber squad tops nine medal-winners at The Big One

Women's Fencing 11/2/2025 9:17:00 AM Adam Levin '94

Women's saber squad tops nine medal-winners at The Big One

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – The Brandeis University fencing team opened its 2025-26 season in style with at the NEIFC Fall Championships, known as The Big One, with the Judges earning nine top-three finishes, including a pair of gold medals and a medal of each color in women's saber.

WOMEN'S SABER SUCCESS

The Judges' top performing squad was the women's saber, where they took home gold silver and bronze. Leading the way was senior Kat Xikes (Chatham, N.J./Chatham), who won the direct elimination as the joint-fifth seed. She bested first-year and joint-fifth seed Sophia Jeffords (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Vistamar School) in the championship bout, 15-12, and another Brandeis rookie Nandini Bains (New York, N.Y./The Bronx High School of Science), 15-13, in the semifinals. Bains reached the final four as the #16 seed, upsetting top-seeded Kelsey Fontenot of MIT, 15-9, in the Round of 16. Xikes' best win in the tableau was a 15-7 win over the fourth seed, Jessica Murphy of Sacred Heart, while Jeffords eliminated second-seeded Ceren Atalar of Boston U, 15-10, in the quarters.

MEN'S FOIL, EPEE SEND TWO TO SEMIS

On the men's side, Brandeis sent two fencers to the final four in both the foil and epee, coming away with a gold, a silver and two bronzes.
In foil, junior Jack Sullivan (Somerville, Mass./Greater Commonwealth Virtual School) led the way by winning his first championship, while first-year Luc Kong (Medford, Mass./Boston College High School) placed third overall. Sullivan, who claimed the joint-second seed in the direct elimination, rolled through the bracket, never surrendering more than seven points in the 15-point bouts. He won in the finals over Brown's Ansel Edison, who reached the gold-medal match as the 21^st seed. Kong was the eighth seed in the draw, and he upset top-seeded Derek Kim of Brown, 15-11, in the quarters, before dropping a 15-12 match to Edison in the semis. Senior Michael Yerokhin (Paramus, N.J./Paramus) also reached the quarters as a joint-second seed, but was upset by the sixth seed.
In epee action, a pair of first-years made it to the semifinals, with Dylan Schroeder (Culver City, Calif./Culver City) taking silver and Jonah Daniels (Bozeman, Mont./Bozeman) earning bronze. Schroeder made it as the 29^th seed, defeating four straight higher-seeded opponents en route to the title match. His closest contest came in the quarters, where he knocked off Shiv Rishi of MIT, 15-14. In the semis, he met ninth-seeded Daniels, and emerged with a 15-4 win, before falling to second-seeded Alex North of Vassar, 15-11. Daniels walked a tightrope to make the semis, winning his first two matches by a 15-14 score before taking out top-seeded Declan McAdoo of Sacred Heart in the quarters, 15-12.

TWO MORE MEDALISTS

The Judges picked up two additional bronze medals.
Senior Hannah Du (Winchester, Mass./Winchester) was the joint-fourth seed in the women's foil bracket, and she advanced to the semis with a 15-2 win over sophomore teammate Eva Bassik (New Albany, Ohio/New Albany) in the quarters. Du tested top-seeded Sandra Luo of MIT in the semis before falling, 15-10.
In men's saber action, first-year Jude Wilson (Jersey City, N.J./Hudson Catholic) was seeded fifth in the direct elimination, and he rolled through the first three rounds without allowing more than six touches. Wilson fell to top-seeded and champion Aslan Tolga of Sacred Heart, 15-10.
In women's epee action, Brandeis's top finisher was junior Vera Witte (Ridgewood, N.J./Ridgewood), who placed sixth. She took a pair of 15-12 matches in the first two rounds before falling to the third seed, 15-10, in the quarters.