WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis University fencing teams hosted the first of their two home tournaments this season today, the Carla-Mae Richards '59 Invitational. The Brandeis men earned a pair of impressive wins over Division I foes in the process, defeating Penn State and St. John's University as part of a 6-2 performance, while the women went 3-3, sweeping their Division III foes.
RESULTS
MEN
Lawrence 14, Brandeis 13
Brandeis 14, Penn State 13
Brandeis 15, St. John's 12
Brandeis 16, Haverford 11
Brandeis 20, Drew 7
Brandeis 18, Drew 9
Brandeis 19, Haverford 8
Cornell 15, Brandeis 11 |
WOMEN
Brandeis 17, Lawrence 10
Penn State 20, Brandeis 7
St. John's 19, Brandeis 8
Brandeis 24, Haverford 3
Brandeis 24, Drew 3
Cornell 22, Brandeis 5 |
MEET SUMMARY - MEN
- The Brandeis men, who had dropped five-straight 14-13 matches earlier this season, fell to Lawrence University by the same score to open the tournament. The men's foil squad won, 7-2, but saber lost, 7-2, and epee were edged, 5-4.
- The Judges bounced back by finally picking up a 14-13 win, defeating Division I Penn State thanks to a 5-4 win in saber and 6-3 in foil, offsetting a 6-3 epee loss.
- They followed that match up with a 15-12 win over DI St. John's, with another 6-3 foil win and a 5-4 epee win to offset a 5-4 saber loss.
- Brandeis won the next four matches handily against Division III opponents, topping Haverford, 16-11 and 19-8, and Drew, 20-7 and 18-9.
- The day ended with a 15-12 loss to Cornell's club team.
MEET SUMMARY – WOMEN
- The Brandeis women defeated all three of their Division III opponents, opening with a 17-10 win over Lawrence that was paced by an 8-1 win from saber and 7-2 from foil, offsetting a 7-2 epee defeat.
- The Judges fell to Penn State, 20-7, and St. John's, 19-8, in their next two matches.
- The next two matchups saw Brandeis dominate Haverford and Drew by identical 24-3 scores. All three weapons won, 8-1, against the Fords, while foil and epee won 9-0 against the Rangers.
- The meet ended with a 22-5 loss at the hands of Cornell.
SQUAD PERFORMANCES
- The men's foil squad paced the day for the Judges, going 7-1, with their only loss a 5-4 defeat against Cornell in the final match.
- Men's saber went 5-3, competing without All-American Lev BenAvram (Bethesda, Md./Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School), while the epee squad had three wins.
- Women's saber and foil each went 3-3 with wins over their DIII foes and losses to DI opponents. Women's epee had two wins on the day.
TOP INDIVIDUALS
- Without BenAvram, the men's saber squad was led by junior Alex Piwowar (Westford, Mass. / Westford Academy), who went 14-10 to lead the Judges in total victories. Piwowar earned wins in all eight of Brandeis's matches on the day. Senior Seth Edelman (New York, N.Y. / Brooklyn Tech) finished with the team's best winning percentage, going 13-2 (86.7%) thanks to a 12-0 performance against Drew and Haverford.
- First-year foil fencer David Knizhnik (Bethesda, Md. / Aeon) led his squad with 13 wins against just five defeats on the day. Junior squad-mate Jackson Sullivan (Somerville, Mass. / Greater Commonwealth Virtual School) added 10 wins on the day with just two losses.
- The epee squad saw the most balance, with only one fencer competing in more than half of the matches, as sophomore Lucas Strauss (Boulder, Colo. / Boulder) had 10 wins in 15 bouts.
- On the women's side, the saber squad saw senior Kat Xikes (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) post the top win total and winning percentage, going 12-3 (80.0%) with a winning record in all five of her bouts, including 3-0 against Lawrence and Haverford and 2-1 against Penn State and SJU. First-years Nandini Bains (New York, N.Y./Bronx High School of Science) and Sophia Jeffords (Manhattan Beach, Calif. / Vistamar School) each had 10 wins as well.
- Sophomore Eva Bassik (New Albany, Ohio / New Albany) paced the women's foil squad with eight victories, while junior Ella Richards (Harvard, Mass. / Francis W. Parker Charter Essential School) had seven wins.
- Junior Vera Witte (Ridgewood, N.J. / Ridgewood) had eight wins, including at least one against all six opponents, for the epee squad, and senior Olivia Bennett (Shrewsbury, Mass. / Worcester Academy) added seven wins.
UP NEXT
- The Judges are off for the semester and will return to action on January 25th, 2026, for the Northeast Fencing Conference championships at Wellesley College.
