Women’s Fencing Finds Success at Eric Sollee Invitational

WALTHAM, Mass. - The MIT women's fencing team picked up wins over Air Force, Haverford, Hunter and NYU before falling to No. 8 Penn as the team went 4-1 at Saturday's Eric Sollee Invitational hosted by Brandeis University. The Cardinal and Gray has had strong showings at each of its last two meets, improving their record to 13-9 overall on the season.

MIT's foil squad, led by senior Cordelia Link (13-2), had the most impressive performance of the three weapons, winning four of the five matches and posting a 33-12 record on the day. Finishing 8-1 against the U.S. Air Force Academy, the foilists clinched the 15-12 victory for the Engineers over the Falcons. Link, along with Jenna Caldwell (11-4) and Lindley Graham (9-6) scored Tech's only 9-0 wins with their efforts over Haverford College and Hunter College.

In Epee, Sophie Monahan (9-4), Stephanie Shin (10-5), Kirsten Hessler (9-6) and Kristin Kuhn (2-0) combined to go 30-15 over the five rounds. Against New York University, the trio won 8 of 9 possible points, lifting the Engineers to a narrow 14-13 victory against the Violets.

MIT's young sabre contingent held their own against the tough competition, posting consistent 4-5 records against three opponents and totaling 23-24 throughout the meet. Sophomore Molly Kozminsky (10-5), along with Annabeth Gellman (8-7), Elena Tartachenko (3-11) and Laura Evans (1-0) had a 7-2 outing against Haverford College, allowing the Engineers to dominate the Fords, 24-3.

The Engineers have some time off before they hit the strips again on February 20 at the New England Collegiate Championships hosted by Mount Holyoke College.