Swordswomen Blow by Bulldogs, 10-6

It was the last regular season meet, it was Yale, and it was oh, so sweet for seniors Penelope Papailias, Kristina Perkin, and Amanda Leness.

The trio led the Harvard women's fencing team (13-2 overall) to' a big 10-6 victory over the Elis last night at Malkin Athletic Center. The thirteen wins sets a Harvard record for most total wins in a season.

"This is the highlight of my fencing career," said Captain Papailias, who was all but untouchable--losing only two points in her four matches.

A three-time All-Ivy fencer, Papailias ended the regular season with an unbelievable 52-5 record, and is the first Harvard woman to shatter the single-season 50-win plateau.

"This was the biggest meet, our last meet--and against Yale," Papailias said. "What made it really classic is when I went to shake the Yale coach's hand, he refused. It was a very fitting ending to a Harvard-Yale match."

"[The Yale coach's behavior is] not surprising," Harvard coach Branimir Zivkovic said. "He hasn't shaken my hand for ten years."

"This is my best team ever," said Zivkovic, who earned his 103rd victory in 13 years of coaching. "This is a very good end to the season."

But it was far from routine.

"It was really tough tonight," Perkin said. "There was a lot of stress and pressure. Being our last meet and with our big rival Yale, this really meant a great deal to us."

The senior's first match was her most important. After Papailias breezed by Yale's Eve Porter, 5-0, to give Harvard a 1-0 lead, Perkin faced Yale standout Kris Campbell. The Elis plan of "stacking" the line-up backfired when the Crimson's four-year veteran won a thrilling 5-4 contest.

Yale was stunned, but it refused to give up. And with a Nicole Gray 5-1 win over Leness, the Elis shaved the Crimson's lead to one point, 7-6.

Harvard then showed the skill which has made them the most successful women's fencing team in school history. Perkin defeated Gray, 5-2, to give the Crimson a two-match cushion.

Then junior Amy Neuhardt, whose 5-4 win over Gray earlier in the match gave the Crimson a huge lift, crushed Porter, 5-2, to snuff out any hope of an Eli comeback. Papailias ended the match impressively, destroying Campbell with a 5-0 shutout win.

Harvard now has its eye on the Northeast Regional, held this Saturday and Sunday at Malkin. The top three teams at that event will head to Northwestern University in Chicago for the NCAA championships, held during the first week of April.

The regional could be the last meet together for Papailias, Perkin, and Leness, who have been fencing together since their freshmen days at The Chapin School in New York City--but don't count on it. The Crimson is confident that it will qualify for the national championships.

"It will be great," Papailias said. "We'll get to qualify for the NCAAs and beat Yale again."