Blue Fencing Concludes New England Conference Season at Dartmouth

HANOVER, N.H. -- Wellesley College fencing was in action on Saturday, participating in the third Northeast Fencing Conference Meet of the season at Dartmouth College. 

Wellesley finished the day with a 2-3 record, defeating the host Big Green, 14-13, and Smith College, 23-4, while dropping matches to Tufts, 7-20, Boston College, 8-19, and Vassar, 12-15. 

The Blue opened the day against Vassar, earning a hard fought 5-4 victory in foil. The Brewers went on to defeat Wellesley in both remaining weapons, taking a 6-3 win in epee and a 5-4 win in sabre to claim the 15-12 team victory. 

The foil fencers engineered their second straight 5-4 win in the next match versus Boston College. However, the Eagles also rallied to with epee, 8-1, and sabre, 2-7, to defeat the Blue 19-8. 

Wellesley bounced back with a big win in its third match versus Smith. The Blue defeated the Pioneers 8-1 in both foil and epee and 7-2 in sabre to roll to a 23-4 victory.

The Blue carried the momentum in to their next match, needing every bout victory they earned to defeat Dartmouth, 14-13. The Big Green were the only team all day to earn a victory over the foil fencers, topping the Blue 5-4. The hosts were unable to duplicate their effort in epee and saber as the Wellesley got 6-3 victories in both weapons to take the victory. 

For the second time in as many competitions, the Blue closed out the day against local rival Tufts. Unfortunately for Wellesley, the Jumbos came away with another victory. Wellesley earned a 5-4 win foil but the Jumbos got 8-1 wins in both epee and sabre to win 20-7. 

First year Taylor Hood led the way in foil, earning 12 bout  victories for the Blue. Sophomore Pamela Wang wasn't far behind with 10 victories, while junior Camille Samulski added three victories and senior Olivia Wei had one bout victory.

In epee, junior Charlotte Treadwell had a team-high 10 bout victories. She was followed by senior Kathryn Ledbetter, who finished the day with six bout wins, and first year Vanessa Willoughby who totaled three.

Sophomore Jasmine Davis fought to 10 bout victories in saber, leading a Wellesley crew that also got five bout victories from Alice Xu and Madeleine Barowsky. Senior Cassie Hoef also participated in sabre. 

Wellesley will now turn its focus to the NEIFC New England Championships in two weeks at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Action begins on Saturday February 21 at 8:30 AM.