Blue Fencing Finishes 4-3 at Vassar Invitational; Alisha Li Earns 16 Wins

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – Wellesley College fencing picked up wins over Haverford, Lafayette, Hunter, and Stevens as the team went 4-3 at the Vassar Invitational on Sunday.

First year Alisha Li (Warren, N.J.) had a standout day, going 16-2 overall to help the Epee squad earn four wins. Sophomore Grace Xu (Toronto, Ontario) added 11 victories, including three wins against No. 7 ranked in Division III Denison.

Foil squad also had four wins, including 9-0 shutouts against Hunter and Stevens. First years Lauren Khoo (San Francisco, Calif.) and Phoebe Li (Palo Alto, Calif.) led the squad with 14 and 10 wins respectively. 

Sabre squad earned wins against Haverford, Lafayette, and Hunter. Junior Makana Burch (Washougal, Wash.) totaled seven bout wins, while classmate Mia Chao (Washington, D.C.) and first year Rebecca Hsieh (Annandale, Va.) were just behind with six victories each.

Wellesley 21, Haverford 6 

All three squads earned wins and P. Li, Chao, and Hsieh all went 3-0. Xu, A. Li, and Khoo each added two victories, while sophomores Claire Ma (Boston, Mass.), Lily Millard (Selkirk, N.Y.), Michelle Pan (Arlington, Mass.), junior Elena Vona (Millstone, N.J.), Burch, and sophomore Naomi Wang (Boston, Mass.) all won a bout.

Denison 16, Wellesley 11

Epee won 7-2 in the Blue's setback to Denison with both A. Li and Xu winning all three of their bouts. P. Li added two wins in foil while sophomore Gina Huang (Taipei, Taiwan), Pan, and Burch each added a win.

Yale 22, Wellesley 5

Senior Edith Po (Bernardsville, N.J.) was the lone member of the Blue to earn multiple points against Yale, going 2-1 in foil. Khoo added a third win for foil, while A. Li and Xu each won a bout in epee.

Wellesley 19, Lafayette 8

Wellesley returned to its winning ways with three squad wins, and Huang, Khoo, and Xu all sweeping their three bouts. A. Li and Pan both added a pair of victories, while Burch, Chao, and first year Riley Weed (Guilford, Conn.) all had one win.

Wellesley 25, Hunter 2

Khoo, Ma, and P. Li combined to give foil squad a 9-0 shutout. Xu, A. Li, Pan, Vona, Weed, and Millard combined for eight wins for epee. Wang went 3-0 in sabre while Burch and Hsieh both won two, and Chao added a victory.

Johns Hopkins 19, Wellesley 8

Foil squad was narrowly defeated 5-4 despite both Khoo and P. Li going 2-1 for the Blue. A. Li had a clean sweep with three wins for epee while Burch had the lone point for sabre.

Wellesley 15, Stevens 12

Foil squad earned its second 9-0 sweep of the day with 3-0 performances from Huang, Khoo, and Po. A. Li was perfect with three victories for epee and Burch, Chao, and Hsieh all provided a win in sabre.

The Blue are back in action on Sunday, November 19 at the Northeast Fencing Conference (NFC) Meet No. 1, hosted by Boston College. Competition begins at 10:00 AM.