New York University's men's and women's fencing teams competed at the Sacred Heart Tradition Meet on Saturday, December 6, in Fairfield, CT.
Both squads earned two wins apiece, with NYU's epee groups delivering the most consistent and standout results of the day. The women faced five opponents, while the men took on four, each posting strong showings in their epee bouts throughout the meet.
The men opened against Princeton, falling 19–8. NYU claimed epee (5–4) but dropped saber (7–2) and foil (7–2). Against Yale, the Violets were edged 15–12 despite another strong epee performance (5–4), as they came up short in saber (6–3) and foil (5–4). NYU rebounded with a 15–12 victory over Sacred Heart, taking foil (7–2) and epee (5–4) while conceding saber (6–3). The Violets closed out the day with a dominant 21–6 win over Vassar College, sweeping foil (9–0) and adding victories in saber (5–4) and epee (7–2).
The women began the day with a 16–11 loss to Princeton, which claimed foil (8–1) and saber (5–4), while NYU secured epee (6–3). In a tight matchup with Temple, the Violets fell 15–12, winning saber (6–3) and epee (5–4) but dropping foil (8–1). Yale defeated NYU 18–9, with the Violets taking epee (6–3) but falling in foil (8–1) and saber (7–2). NYU bounced back with a commanding 24–3 win over Sacred Heart, sweeping foil (9–0) and adding victories in epee (7–2) and saber (8–1). They closed their day with an 18–9 win over Vassar, sweeping foil once again (9–0) and taking both saber and epee by 5–4 margins.
Jerry Pan posted seven victories in men's saber, while Farr Dickson contributed seven wins in foil, including two 3–0 squad sweeps against Vassar and Sacred Heart. In epee, Szymon Wojciechowski and Ajit Sivakumar had five wins each.
On the women's side, Katherine Chen continued her strong season in epee with eight victories, highlighted by 3–0 sweeps against Princeton and Yale. Audrey Shitamoto added eight wins in foil, including two sweeps against Vassar and Sacred Heart. In saber, Liisa Hambazaza totaled five wins.
"I was really happy with the way the team fenced today. We ran into a lot of challenges, but the group showed great resilience against a very tough field," said Head coach Ben Bratton. "I'm very proud of our épée squads as well—they went undefeated in their squad matchups today."
Both squads return to action at the Philadelphia Invitational on Saturday, January 17, at University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA.
