CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Brandeis University fencing team opened its 2025-26 dual-meet season tonight with the annual Beanpot tournament, held this year a Harvard. The Judges dropped all three matches to BC, Harvard and MIT on both the men's and women's side.
TEAM RESULTS
- Brandeis opened against BC, dropping an 18-9 decision on the women's side and 16-11 on the men's, despite winning both saber and foil by 5-4 scores, as the Eagles took epee, 8-1.
- Host Harvard picked up a 25-2 win on the women's side and 22-5 on the men's. The men's foil squad picked up a team-best three wins against the Crimson.
- The final round between Brandeis and MIT saw both match-ups decided by a 14-13 score. The women's won saber and foil, 5-4, but the Engineers were 6-3 winners in epee. On the men's side, all three weapons came down to 5-4 results, with Brandeis taking saber honors and MIT winning foil and epee.
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
- Individually, junior foil fencer Jackson Sullivan (Somerville, Mass. / Greater Commonwealth Virtual School) had the best record for the men, going 5-4 with a 2-1 record against both BC and Harvard, the only Judge with more than one victory against the Crimson.
- First-year foil fencer David Knizhnik (Bethesda, Md. / Aeon) and senior saber Lev BenAvram (Bethesda, Md. / Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School) had the men's lone 3-0 performances, against MIT and BC, respectively.
- On the women's side, senior Hannah Du (Winchester, Mass. / Winchester) also had a five-win evening, going 2-1 against BC and 3-0 against MIT for the foil squad.
- Senior Kat Xikes (Chatham, N.J. / Chatham) and first-year Nandini Bains (New York, N.Y. / The Bronx High School of Science) of the saber squad each earned four wins, with Xikes going 3-0 against MIT to join Du as the lone 3-0 performances against an opponent at the meet.
- Bains and junior Vera Witte (Ridgewood, N.J. / Ridgewood) of the epee squad were the only two women to earn wins against all three opponents, including the team's lone point s against Harvard.
UP NEXT
- The Judges will head West this weekend to compete at the Western Invitational at the U.S. Air Force Academy on Saturday and Sunday.
