The New York University women's fencing team returned to action for the first time since December 3 when they began competition at the Philadelphia Invitational on Saturday, January 20. 

Hosted by the University of Pennsylvania, the Invitational features some of the top teams in the country representing all NCAA divisions.

The Violets, ranked #24 in the nation, opened play with a 14-13 victory over #20 University of North Carolina. Captain Maria Stamos won all three of her foil bouts to help secure the win.

NYU then fell to #18 UC San Diego and #5 Duke University by similar 16-11 scores.

The Violets were next defeated by host #16 U Penn (20-7) before ending the day by being nipped by #21 Johns Hopkins University (14-13).   

"The win/loss numbers don't look so good, but we had some good showings and were very competitive in most of the matches," said Head Coach Ben Bratton. 

The Violets will face four more opponents on Sunday, beginning with #8 Ohio State University at 8:30am.