Fencers win Ivy opener, sweep meet at Brandeis

The Penn men's and women's fencing teams can not help feeling rather confident about their chances this season after a weekend of near-perfect play.

In a two-day period that included matches both at Penn and at the Brandeis Multi Meet, each squad came away with five commanding victories against five quality opponents.

The men improved their overall record to 7-2, while the women now post a stellar 9-0 mark.

The biggest test of the Quakers' young season came Saturday against Ivy League foe Yale. Both the men's and women's teams were more than prepared for the challenge, earning decisive victories in their first Ancient Eight matches of the season.

The men used a well-balanced team effort in defeating Yale, as sophomores Bill Caulin and Mark Kindrachuk and juniors Stephen Gavalas and Chungxing Mah all swept their competitors, going 4-0 on the day.

"We did our homework," Gavalas said of the team's performance. "We faced them before and we knew what we had to do to win. We had them outmatched today."

It was Gavalas who provided the most impressive victory of the day, defeating highly-touted Yale sophomore Cory Werk, 5-4, in a close match.

"We were a little afraid about their stud player Cory Werk," Gavalas said. "He's really good and has good tactics and great speed. But we got to him today. That was huge for this team."

Penn coach David Micahnik added, "I'm very satisfied with the men's outcome today. [They] had balanced victories among all three weapons, with several key wins, including Steven Gavalas's win over Cory Werk. [Werk] is very good, and that victory benefited us a lot today."

On the women's side, the freshman trio of Annika Eiremo, Cassandra Frey and Katelyn Sherry stole the show with an impressive 9-0 sweep against Yale in sabre competition. Eiremo improved her team-leading record to 14-3 after Saturday's match.

The success of the freshman sabres came as no surprise to team captain Emmanuelle Humblet, who went 2-1 on the afternoon.

"We have a really good team. From top to bottom, we have a lot of talent," she said. "We usually start out slowly and end well during matches. Today we played well all around."

The Quakers continued their all-around dominance on Sunday, as both teams cruised to convincing victories over Brown, Boston College, MIT and NYU in Waltham, Mass. The six-hour trip did little to slow the teams down, as both squads continued to impress with blowout victories and well-balanced individual performances.

While undoubtedly excited with his teams' wins, Micahnik focused more on the intangibles the weekend provided. He sees the next few weeks of Ancient Eight play as crucial to both teams' success.

"I don't think we're a shoe-in. I think we'll be competitive, but there are a lot of good teams in the Ivy," he said. "For some of the [freshman], this was their first chance to feel the pressure and survive."

Humblet feels similarly about the women's chances.

"Our goal is obviously to win the Ivy," she said. "Overall we have really high hopes. In the three years I've been here, this year we've got the best team and the best chance to win."

With Yale out of the way on the conference calendar, Penn will look forward to important matches against Ivy rivals Harvard and Columbia in the near future.

"The Ivies will become progressively harder," Gavalas said. "With Columbia and Harvard approaching, it doesn't get any easier. We'll just keep up the hard work and energy."

Junior Andy Radu, who contributed two victories to Penn's cause against Yale, echoed praise for his teammates, but warned that the season is still young.

"This is definitely a good start, but it's not going to get any easier," he said. "We've got to stay tough."

Men's fencing Yale meet

Penn 20, Yale 7

Brandeis Multi Meet

Penn 20, Boston College 7; Penn 16, MIT 11; Penn 18, Brown 9; Penn 15, Brandeis 12

Women's fencing Yale meet

Penn 18, Yale 9

Brandeis Multi Meet

Penn 20, Boston College 7; Penn 20, MIT 7; Penn 21, Brown 6; Penn 23, Brandeis 4

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.