Men, Women Fencers Fall to Irish

The Harvard men's and women's fencing teams both battled highly-touted Notre Dame last night and found the Fighting Irish's ratings weren't inflated, as the swordsmen from South Bend downed both squads convincingly last night at MIT.

Notre Dame boasts one of the nation's top five men's squads and the sixth best women's team in the nation.

The losses dropped the Harvard's men's season mark to 6-1 and the women's to 5-2

In the men's match, the Crimson dominated the foil competition but couldn't top Notre Dame in the other two weapons. Junior Michael Member led the fencer's 11-5 effort in the foil with four solid wins, all of them by at least two touches.

All-American brother Dave tallied three victories for the Crimson cause Cameron Bright also scored three Harvard triumphs in the foil

General Interest

But fending matches are scored best of three weapons, and Nortre Dame powered its way to a 13-3 decision in the epee and an 11-5 margin in the sabre. The epee runaway came as no surprise, but the Crimson had expected a more competitive sabre showing

As an example of the squad's trouble in the sabre, Crimson All American Dave Heyman captured only one win against three setbacks. Further, Notre Danie won two sabre matches by only one touch

"Now we really have to beat Columbia to stay in the top five," Member said, referring to the squad's next and perhaps biggest match of the year, in New York February 4. The Lions may well have the best squad in the country

Neither Harvard team had competed since December 10

The Irish downed the Crimson women 11-5 in the foil, the only weapon in women's inter-collegiate team competition. Captain Amy Jones and junior Vivi Fuchs each grabt two wins, while Jennifer Woodell got the other Harvard victory

"We fenced really well," Jones said. "Personally, I felt great about it"

Notre Dame downed the women's junior varsity, 12.4