NEW YORK, NY (February 8, 2012) – The Vassar College women's fencing team found New York City rivals Columbia and New York tough foes on Wednesday evening, falling to both teams.

The Brewers drop to 16-16 on the season. Best records on the night were Caitlin Clevenger at 4-2 and Veronica Weser at 3-3, both in epee.

Round 1 – Columbia 24, Vassar 3
Columbia had a strong team as usual. Vassar Sabre was pretty flat and had no victories in the round. Elizabeth Ilechko had one hard-fought victory in foil. Clevenger managed to wrangle two in epee and that was it.

Round 2 – NYU 18, Vassar 9
NYU was strong as well. Vassar sabre was still flat and although some of the bouts were closer, there were no wins. In Foil, Ilechko added another win on the night and Katie Leclair also managed one. Vassar epee had a strong round at 7-2 behind Weser undefeated at 3-0 and Clevenger at 2-1. Megan Lewis added two more wins at 2-1.

If the epee squad can light a fire under foil and sabre before this Saturday, the team will have a shot at a second place finish in the North East Fencing Conference when they face host  University of Massachusetts, The University of New Hampshire, Dartmouth, Boston University, Wellesley College, and Sacred Heart University in North East Conference Match #3.