POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (November 14, 2011) -- The Vassar Invitational inaugurates the 2011-12 women's fencing season, and the Brewers fared well in a series of bouts against conference and non-conference opponents, going 3-5 on the day.

With the loss of three seniors to graduation and a key team member on JYA, the Brewers will have slow, yet steady growth as the year progresses.
Notable performers on the day were: Junior Katie Leclair in the foil at 18-4, senior Veronica Weser in the epee at 13-8, and senior co-captain Brooke Schieffer in the sabre at 13-8.

According to head coach Bruce Gillman, the women's foil team had a good day with five squad victories and finished strong after eight rounds of grueling competition.

Round 1 – Haverford 18  Vassar 9
Haverford has a strong team and the Brewers were not quite ready in the first match of the year. All three Vassar squads went 3-6 with Leclair, Weser, and Schieffer scoring 2/3 of the Vassar wins at 2-1 each.

Round 2 – Vassar 15   Fairleigh Dickinson University  12
Because FDU was short two foil fencers and one sabre fencer, Vassar was able to substitute  less experienced fencers into the match and still come out on top. Sophomore Noelle Sawyer and freshman Anastasia Stevens gained valuable experience in epee and freshman Kathleen Konno got a sabre bout in.

Round 3 – Cornell 23   Vassar 4
“Cornell is always a strong team,” said Gillman. “They were unable to attend the Invite last year and I think that is when we could have given them a closer match. This year, they beat us pretty well. Foil wasn't able to manage one victory and lost 0-9. Schieffer picked up one sabre win and epee fared the best behind two wins from Veronica Weser and one from freshman Megan Lewis.”

Round 4 – Vassar 20   Hunter 7
Vassar bounced back against Hunter. Epee had the most trouble at 4-5 despite Weser going 3-0 in the round. Sabre had a great round, going 6-0. Foil was the best squad with Leclair at 3-0, junior Katharine Sweeney at 2-1 and senior Elizabeth Ilechko having a great round at  2-0.

Round 5 – West Point 14  Vassar 13
This was a closely contested match with plenty of opportunities to earn the victory, especially in sabre. Schieffer was 2-1, but no one else was able to add to those victories. Epee lost narrowly 4-5 despite Weser's 2-1 mark. Foil went 8-1, behind a second straight undefeated round for both Leclair and Ilechko.

Round 6 – Sacred Heart University 21   Vassar 6
Sacred has managed to rebuild all three squads and has become a force to be reckoned with. Katie Leclair at 3-0 and Brooke Schieffer at 2-1 tried to stem the time, but it wasn't enough. Vassar's epee squad with improved in February with Caitlib Clevenger back from JYA, but beating  SHU squad even then will be quite a challenge.

Round 7 – Vassar 21   Yeshiva 6
Yeshiva is still in its infancy as an NCAA program after being a recognized team for only three years. Vassar was able to substitute a bit at sabre and epee in this round. Foil finished a strong 8-1. Epee and sabre were 7-2 and 6-3 respectively.

Round 8 – Stevens 15  Vassar 12
By this round just about everyone on both teams was tired. Vassar foil was able to overcome some minor injuries and finish strong, with Leclair finishing the day with a 3-0 round and co-captain Alia Heintz at 2-1. The squad went 8-1. Unfortunately, Stevens had the best of epee and sabre, Vassar only able to muster three victories in each weapon.