POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (February 20, 2014) – The Vassar College men's and women's fencing squads will have a busy weekend, as the men will head to Drew University at 4:30 p.m. Friday before taking part in the New England Intercollegiate Fencing Conference (NEIFC) Championships Saturday and the United States Collegiate Squad Championships Sunday. The Brewers both had a lot of success two weekends ago at New Hampshire, going a combined 9-2.

Game Details
Opponent: at Drew University (MEN ONLY)
(Drew Men's Fencing Home Page) (Roster) (Schedule)
Site: Madison, NJ
Facility: Simon Forum
Date: February 22, 2014
Time: 4:30 p.m.

Game Details
Opponent: New England Intercollegiate Fencing Conference Championships
(NEIFC Championships Home Page)
Site: South Hadley, MA – Mount Holyoke Championships
Facility: Mount Holyoke Field House
Date: February 23, 2014
Time: 9 a.m.

Game Details
Opponent: United States Collegiate Squad Championships
(US Collegiate Squad Championships Home Page)
Site: Philadelphia, PA – University of Pennsylvania
Facility: TSE Sports Center
Date: February 24, 2014
Time: 9 a.m.

What To Look For
The Brewers have pretty much finished up their men and women's dual match schedule, which helps qualify each fencer for regionals. This weekend, the Brewers will take part in two tournaments, each with different formats. Saturday at Mount Holyoke for the NEIFC Championships, the squads will split up into A, B, and C fencing groups, and will for the most part fence individually. Each fencer will accumulate wins for their team, but no dual match format will be used. Sunday at the USCSC event, Vassar will send its men's sabre and women's epee squads in the hope that each of them will be able to succeed in the tournament's 45-touch relay system.

A Look At The NEIFC Championships
Vassar College will head to Mount Holyoke to take part in the NEIFC tournament, an all-day fencing event that should hand out plenty awards to Vassar fencers on the day. The team competition consists of one round-robin pool, where each team within the pool will face off. Due to the large number of anticipated entries, the event will rotate by weapon squads, not by full 3-weapon teams. The individual competition will see 12 fencers per weapon advanced to the individual competition, six from the A strip, four from the B strip and two from the C strip. Two six-fencer pools advance to be whittled down to one final pool of six where an individual champion will be crowned. 

Team and squad results will be ranked by total victories, indicators and touches scored, in that order. The teams that will compete in the event will be Brandies, Boston College, Sacred Heart, MIT and Vassar.

A Look At The USCSC
The United States Collegiate Squad Championships will be a big event, held on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania. The Brewers will be sending their men's sabre squad, along with the women's epee group. The men are currently looking to against Brandeis, NYU, two squads from Penn, Princeton, North Carolina and Yale. The women's draw consists of teams from Boston College, Fairleigh Dickinson, Haverford, NYU, two squads from Penn, Princeton, North Carolina and Yale.

The Brewer women's epee squad will be seeded eighth out of the 10 teams competing, just behind UNC and Haverford. The sabre competition looks to be pretty even, as the No. 2 through No. 7 seeds are separated by just over 100 points.

Shining Star
Senior Matt Steinschneider and freshman Olivia Weiss were honored by the NEIFC earlier this week, as Weiss was named as an All-Star first-team at epee and Steinschneider took home second-team in the foil.

Ready For Regionals
The Brewers will sent 18 fencers to NCAA Regionals this year, which require 21 dual match bouts and a minimum winning percentage of 20 percent.

Here Comes Johnny
Senior John Arden won eight of his 10 matches two weeks ago at New Hampshire, and is now 19-9 on the year. Arden will compete in the NCAA Regionals in March.

Buffalo Sabres
The sabre group for the men this year has been strong, as it has led the team in winning percentage this year.

Crazy Eight
The Vassar men's fencing team currently has eight combatants with a winning record, led by Steinschneider and his 70-25 record.

No Mess
Rachel Messbauer has had a very solid campaign for the Brewers are epee, going 44-36 so far this season, holding the No. 2 spot in the epee lineup most of the year.