NEW YORK – The Columbia men's and women's fencing teams completed the regular season Wednesday night in the George Kolombatovich Historical Meet. The women's team rolled with wins over NYU, Sacred Heart, and Vassar to finish the meet 3-0. The men finished 2-1 with wins against NYU and Sacred Heart. The Lions lost to Vassar in the final match of the night.
The women started the evening with a 21-6 win over NYU to claim the Katy Bilodeau '87CC women's trophy. The Lions dominated each category, going 8-1 in sabre, 7-2 in foil, and 6-3 in epee.
Anna Li and
Megan Liang each posted 3-0 performances in sabre.
Columbia earned another big win in the second round over Sacred Heart, 21-6. The Lions went 6-3 in sabre and epee, and finished off a 9-0 sweep in foil.
Ruoqiu Fei,
Sofia Gaydos,
Alanna Xue, and
Karina Leung worked together to complete the clean sweep in foil action.
The women wrapped up the night with a dominating 26-1 win against Vassar. Sabre and foil completed 9-0 sweeps while epee went 8-1 in the win. The Lions had an impressive showing overall going 23-4 in sabre, 25-2 in foil, and 20-7 in epee through three matches.
The men got started with a close 14-13 win against NYU to claim the Irving Martin Preschel men's fencing trophy. Columbia dominated in foil, 8-1, which proved critical to the team's win. NYU made the match interesting down the stretch as the team went 5-4 in sabre and 7-2 in epee against the Lions.
Zachary Binder and
Bogdan Hamilton each finished 3-0 in foil.
The Lions wrapped up the second round of the night with a 16-11 win over Sacred Heart. Columbia outscored SHU in each area, going 5-4 in sabre, 6-3 in foil, and 5-4 in epee.
Zachary Zusin picked up two bout wins in foil to help lead the Lions to the win.
Columbia ended the night with a tight 14-13 loss to Vassar. The men outscored Vassar in Sabre and foil, but lost the advantage from epee where Vassar went 7-2.
With the regular season completed, the Lions will begin preparation for the NCAA Northeast Regional in March. Individuals from each team will head to Cambridge, Massachusetts looking to advance to the NCAA Championships.
