Columbia University
North American Cup
Women Fencers Go 3-0 To Tie For Lead in Ivy Championships
2/21/2010 12:00:00 AM | Fencing
ITHACA, N.Y. — It's a long ride from Ithaca back to New York, but the Columbia women's fencing team should enjoy every minute after winning all three of its matches on the first day of the Ivy League Fencing Championships to move into a tie for first place with Princeton, which also is 3-0.
The Lion women began the day with 21-6 victories over Yale and Cornell, the host school, and followed with a 24-3 win against Brown. The men's team was not as fortunate, dropping its first two matches to Yale 18-9, and Brown, 17-10.
"Our women fenced phenomenally well," head coach George Kolombatovich said. "They were really dominant. I could not be more pleased."
The sabre and epee squads paced the Lions against Yale in the opening match at Cornell's Newman Arena. Each won eight of nine bouts, as junior Jackie Jacobson and sophomore Sammy Roberts posted 3-0 records in sabre, while sophomore Neely Brandfield-Harvey and first-year Lydia Kopecky matched them in epee.
All three weapons squads went 7-2 against the host Big Red. Senior Daria Schneider in sabre, and Brandfield-Harvey and Kopecky, all went 3-0, but no one was more dominant than junior Nicole Ross, who won all three of her foil bouts by 5-0 scores, not sustaining even one touch!
Epee again excelled against Brown in the final match of the day, winning eight of nine behind senior Tess Finkel and Brandfield-Harvey, both 3-0, while sabre was a perfect 9-0 — Schneider and Jacobson posting 3-0 records, sophomore Stephanie Aiuto going 2-0, and Roberts winning her only bout. Two foil fencers notched 3-0 records — Ross and first-year D'Meca Homer.
"Our women will take on our three toughest opponents when the Ivy Championships continue next week," Kolombatovich noted, referring to Princeton, which went 3-0, Penn (3-1), and Harvard (2-1). "Today's showing gave us a great shot in the arm. We now have the confidence to go after it."
The men's team, which had suffered through a lackluster season this year, was hurt significantly by the absences of three regulars in the Ivy Championships. They were missing senior All-American Kurt Getz, who was fencing in international competition; junior sabre fencer Alex Rudnicki, still sidelined by an injury; and senior Isaac Kim, who left the team recently.
The unexpected loss of Kim, coupled with that of Getz, was too much for the men's foil squad, which was forced to forfeit a bout in each match, and finished 0-9 against both Yale and Brown.
Men's sabre went 5-4 against Yale, paced by senior All-American Jeff Spear's 3-0, and epee was 4-5 as senior All-American Dwight Smith and first-year Dylan Knox each were 2-1. Against Brown, Smith was 3-0 and sophomore Sean Leahy was 2-1 to lead a 6-3 men's epee effort, while Spear turned in another 3-0 for the 4-5 sabre squad.
"Jeff expended so much energy!" Kolombatovich marveled.
The Lions complete the Ivy League Championships in Round Two next Sunday, February 28, at the University of Pennsylvania's Hutchinson Gymnasium. The women will be major contenders for the Ivy League title despite the absence of Nicole Ross, who will be overseas competing in a Senior World Cup. Men's epeeist Dwight Smith also will compete in a Senior World Cup that weekend.
"Columbia should be proud," Kolombatovich noted, "that its fencers compete on such a high international level. I think if you asked almost any of our coaches at Columbia, they'd agree to let our kids follow their dreams."
Here are videos from the first day of competition, courtesy of the Ivy League office:
Interview with Daria Schneider
Jeff Spear vs. Yale's Colin Mills
Nicole Ross vs. Yale's Jillian Liu
Lydia Kopecky vs. Brown's Cory Abbe
IVY LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Standings (after Day One)
Women's: Columbia 3-0, Princeton 3-0, Penn 3-1, Harvard 2-1, Cornell 1-3, Brown 0-3, Yale 0-4
Men's: Princeton 3-0, Yale 2-2, Brown 1-1, Harvard 1-1, Penn 1-2, Columbia 0-2
COLUMBIA RESULTS:
WOMEN'S FENCING
COLUMBIA 21, YALE 6
Women's Sabre, 8-1
Sammy Roberts 3-0, Jackie Jacobson 3-0, Steph Aiuto 2-1
Women's Foil, 5-4
Nicole Ross 2-1, D'Meca Homer 2-1, Ariana Warr 0-2, Megan Ng 1-0
Women's Epee, 8-1
Neely Brandfield-Harvey 3-0, Tess Finkel 2-1, Lydia Kopecky 3-0
COLUMBIA 21, CORNELL 6
Women's Sabre, 7-2
Daria Schneider 3-0, Sammy Roberts 2-1, Steph Aiuto 1-1, Jackie Jacobson 1-0
Women's Foil, 7-2
Nicole Ross 3-0, Megan Ng 2-1, D'Meca Homer 2-1
Women's Epee, 7-2
Neely Brandfield-Harvey 3-0, Tess Finkel 1-2, Lydia Kopecky 3-0
COLUMBIA 24, BROWN 3
Women's Sabre, 9-0
Daria Schneider 3-0, Sammy Roberts 1-0, Steph Aiuto 2-0, Jackie Jacobson 3-0
Women's Foil, 6-3
Nicole Ross 3-0, Megan Ng 0-1, D'Meca Homer 3-0, Ariana Warr 0-2
Women's Epee, 8-1
Neely Brandfield-Harvey 3-0, Tess Finkel 3-0, Lydia Kopecky 2-1
MEN'S FENCING
YALE 18, COLUMBIA 9
Men's Sabre, 5-4
Jeff Spear 3-0, Billy Fink 2-1, Harry Lang 0-3
Men's Foil, 0-9
TK Kim 0-3, Tomasz Otlowski 0-3
Men's Epee, 4-5
Dwight Smith 2-1, Sean Leahy 0-3, Dylan Knox 2-1
BROWN 17, COLUMBIA 10
Men's Sabre, 4-5
Jeff Spear 3-0, Billy Fink 1-2, Harry Lang 0-3
Men's Foil, 0-9
TK Kim 0-3, Tomasz Otlowski 0-3
Men's Epee, 6-3
Dwight Smith 3-0, Sean Leahy 2-1, Dylan Knox 1-2
Players Mentioned
