The New York University women's fencing team, ranked 22nd in the NCAA, competed in the Eric Sollee Invitational on Saturday January 28, where they made their way to  Brandeis University in Waltham, MA.

The Violets faced seven teams during the meet, each one ranked in the top-30. NYU went up against 13th-ranked Brown University, 11th-ranked MIT, host 25th-ranked Brandeis, 28th-ranked Wellesley College, 17th-ranked Boston College, 4th-ranked Duke University, and finally 26th-ranked Tufts University. 

In the first match, the Violets epee team's 6-3 win helped propel NYU to a 14-13 victory. Both Sarah Tong and Sophia Dondisch posted a pair of victories to help secure the NYU win. 

The second round featured another nail-biter, this time NYU being edged by MIT 14-13. Each weapon went 5-4, with NYU only coming out on top in foil.

NYU got back into the win column in the next round with a 15-12 victory over host Brandeis. The epee team stepped up with a 7-2 win behind a perfect 3-0 performance from Lily Papadakis. 

Against Wellesley, the Violets won 5-4 in both saber and epee, but could not withstand Wellesley's 7-2 dominance in foil and NYU dropped a 15-12 decision. 

The fifth match of the invitational had NYU falling to Boston College 16-11, though NYU did win foil 5-4.

NYU lost the last two matches against Duke (25-2) and against Tufts (14-13).

Overall, the Violets ended the invitational with a 2-5 record and are now 7-14 this season.

"I want to highlight the resilience of our women's team. Despite facing challenges, they displayed remarkable grit and tenacity," said Head Coach Ben Bratton. "Their perseverance is a testament to their character and dedication to the sport." 

The fencers will return to action this Sunday January 28th at 11:30am, when they face Harvard University in Cambridge, MA.