FAIRFIELD, CT (December 6, 2015) – The Vassar College women's fencing team battled three ranked teams in six matches Sunday afternoon at the Sacred Heart Traditional Multi-Meet, coming up short in all six contests.

The Brewers fell to No 4 Harvard University (23-4), Sacred Heart (18-9), No. 5 Penn State (21-6), New York University (19-8), No. 3 Princeton University (24-3) and Temple University (21-6).
In the opening match of the day with Harvard, sophomore Kirsten Denman (Yellow Springs, OH/Yellow Springs) earned a win in foil, while freshman Rose Hulsey-Vincent (Woodinville, WA/Woodinville) added a 5-1 and 5-4 victory in epee. VC's final win against the Crimson came in sabre, as Arianna Hawk (East Northport, NY/Commack) earned an exciting 5-4 victory over Gabby Tartakovsky.

The women took on host Sacred Heart University in the second match of the day, as the Pioneers earned squad wins in all three groups. In foil, Vassar was right there with SHU as Denman was a perfect 3-0 while Elsa Stoff (Fair Haven, NJ/Rumson-Fair Haven) also chalked up a win over Julia Cupollo. Hulsey-Vincent and junior Olivia Weiss (Pittsburgh, PA/Pennsylvania Cyber Charter) earned a win apiece in epee, and sabre fencer Annie Innes-Gold (Northampton, MA/Northampton) added two wins including a victory over 2015 NCAA qualifier Julia Greene.

Against No. 5 Penn State, Weiss and senior Rachel Messbauer (Springfield, MA/MacDuffie School) added wins in epee, and Denman recorded another two triumphs for her ledger in foil.  Stoff and Innes-Gold rounded out the victories for VC against PSU.

Vassar followed with a match against New York University, falling 6-3 in epee and foil with a 7-2 defeat in sabre. Against the Violets, Weiss, Hulsey-Vincent and senior captain Amreen Bhasin (Cresskill, NJ/Riverdale) each earned wins in epee Sunday. Denman continued to fence well with two more wins, with squad mate Mirit Rutishauser (New York, NY/LaGuardia School For Music & Art) added a victory as well.

The Brewers would take on No. 3 Princeton University after their loss to NYU, picking up three bouts against the very strong Tigers. Weiss and Bhasin chalked up wins in epee against Princeton, and Rutishauser added another victory with a 5-2 decision over Diana Chin. In the final match with Temple, Vassar saw the foil squad chalk up three wins, with the sabre team adding a pair of victories as well.

Vassar will return to action January 17 after the Holiday Break, as it heads out to the Golden State to take part in the University of California-San Diego West Invitational in La Jolla, CA.