Skilled Elis Slice Past Women, 10-6

Despite the stellar efforts of captain Kathy Lowry, who had a perfect 4-0 afternoon, the Harvard women's fencing team fell to a quick, well-skilled Yale foursome at the IAB Saturday, 10-6.

Bouncing back from her 1-2 performance in the women's earlier 15-1 loss to Cornell, Lowry fenced with her usual authority and decisiveness. She disposed of Jill Peacock and Connie Hume by 5-2 scores, using her favorite quick, high lunge to gather easy touches. She had more difficulty with Beth Feldman and Beth Merritt; but she edged both, 5-4, finishing off the former by disentangling her blade after missing with a low lunge then jabbing Feldman below the neck.

Help!

Lowry received little support from her three teammates. Number two fencer Jenny Laforet stormed back from a 4-1 deficit to edge Feldman, 5-4, in her first bout; but she could not sustain that kind of effort. At times she appeared to misjudge her distance from her opponents, letting them garner easy touches when she thought they could not reach her.

Freshman Caroline Powell crushed Feldman, 5-2, in her last bout to give her a 1-3 record on the day. At times, Powell fenced with the agility, quickness nad smooth technique which is her trademark; but she could not maintain her poise for entire bouts.

Against the much taller Connie Hume she readjusted her game well to tie the score, 3-3, after falling behind, 3-0, then appeared to lose her concentration as she lost, 5-3.

Two of Powell's touches came when she put an extra step into her advance before lunging at Hume, an adjustment that ensured she would not come up short. The other touch came as Powell backed away from a half-hearted Hume lunge then counter-attacked with her own lunge to the belly.

Frustrations

Bernadette Drankoski had a frustrating afternoon battling her way to 4-4 ties in two of her bouts only to lose, 5-4. She fenced tentatively, neither lunging decisively nor preparing her attacks with clean, precise feints and beats.

Captain Kathy Lowry seemed frustrated but not without hope after the match. Since Powell has been in a slump and Laforet had been sick, there is reason to expect improvement, she said.