CHESTNUT HILL, MA (January 25, 2009) -- At the Northeast Conference Fencing Dual Matches held at Boston College on Saturday, the Vassar women's fencing team faced six opponents and compiled a 2-4 record on the afternoon. A highlight for the Brewers was a second straight victory over Tufts, a win head coach Bruce Gillman called "unprecedented."

Outstanding fencers on the day were sophomore Sophie Courser, who went 15-3 in the epee, senior Molly Soiffer who compiled an 11-5 mark in the epee, sophomore Julie Carlsen, 13-5 in the sabre, senior Erica Seigneur, 11-6 in the sabre, sophomore Jackie Kory, 10-7 in the foil and freshman Liz Ilechko, 4-1 in the foil.

Round 1 – Vassar 23 – Smith College 4
Before last season, the Brewers hardly ever fenced against Smith, sans competition at The Big One and New England Championships. Vassar was able to fence against Smith as a complete team, and all of the weapon squads fared well, foil at 9-0, epee at 8-1, and sabre at 6-3.

Round 2 – Vassar 12 – Brown 15
The Brewers closed the margin of defeat against Browns this season as compared to a year ago. Epee had a 6-3 squad victory with 3-0 performances by Courser and Soiffer. Foil kept it close going 4-5 with Kory undefeated at 3-0, but Brown fielded a strong sabre squad this year and Vassar's two victories were not enough to turn the tide.

Round 3 – Vassar 17 – Tufts 10
This was a solid win for Vassar with all three squads earning victories. Foil and epee went 5-4 in the round lead by Courser (3-0), Soiffer (2-1), Kory (2-1), and Melissa Lee (2-1). Vassar sabre had a resounding 7-2 win with both Carlsen and Erica Seigneur at 3-0 and freshman and new fencer Jillian Scharr at 1-1.

Round 4 – Vassar 10 – Boston College 17
Despite a commanding 6-3 epee squad victory, Vassar was only able to come up with four other victories against strong BC foil and sabre squads. Soiffer was the only one to go 3-0 in the round in her final of four annual dual matches against BC. Courser, Seigneur, and Carlsen all were 2-1 in the round. Foil was 0-9 and sabre 4-5 in the round.

Round 5 – Vassar 9 – MIT 18
Epee was close with a 4-5 squad loss and a 3-0 mark set by Courser, but the rest of the team was tiring by Round 5. Kory (2-1) accounted for our foil squad wins and Seigneur (2-1) and Carlsen (1-2) generated three sabre wins, but MIT was in command otherwise.

Round 6 – Vassar 7 – Brandeis 20
The Brandeis foil squad is always strong and they were able to hold the Vassar squad winless in the round. Vassar epee was only able to come up with two victories as well. The bright spot for Vassar came in sabre, where Carlsen and Seigneur were 2-1 and along with Domino Gehred-O'Connell (1-0) produced a 5-4 squad victory.

The next match for the Vassar women's fencing team will be at Tufts on Saturday, February 7 against Wellesley, Dartmouth, Sacred Heart, Boston University, UNH, and UMass.