POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (January 21, 2016) – The Vassar College women's fencing team will travel to Chestnut Hill, MA Saturday for the second of three Northeast Fencing Conference Match Days, as the Brewers drew a bye for the first day of conference competition. The Brewers will compete on the campus of Boston College, taking on Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Smith College, host BC, Tufts University, Brandeis University and Brown University. Action starts at 10 a.m. in the Flynn Recreation Center.

Meet Details
Opponents: MIT, Brown, Brandeis, Boston College, Smith, Tufts
Links: 
(Vassar Women's Fencing Home Page) (Roster) (Schedule)
Site: Chestnut Hill, MA – Boston College
Facility: Flynn Recreation Center
Date: January 23, 2016
Time: 10 a.m.

What To Look For
The Brewers will jump into conference fencing action for the first time this season, taking on six teams in what should be a long and competitive day for Vassar College. The Brewers finished seventh in the Northeast Fencing Conference last season, posting six wins on the season, knocking off Wellesley, Dartmouth, UMass, New Hampshire, Boston University and Smith College. Vassar College will face only one of those teams on Saturday, instead taking on five of the top six teams in the 2014-15 standings. Boston College went 6-0 in the first day of fencing action back on November 23, while Brandeis also was unblemished and sits atop the conference currently. If the Brewers want to move up the standings in league this year, Saturday will be a key day for them, as matches with Tufts University and Smith College could be must-wins.

A Look At The Brewers
- Vassar is coming off a tough day out in San Diego last Sunday, as the Brewers went 2-4 with wins over Cal Tech (23-4) and University of the Incarnate Word (22-5). VC had some solid performances against Air Force and Stanford University, but couldn't get over the hump.
- The women's foil team continued to have success this year, as Kirsten Denman (Yellow Springs, OH/Yellow Springs) went 14-3 on the day out in La Jolla. She's now 45-16 on the year, second-best on the team in wins.
- Fellow foil fencer Sophie Blumenstock (St. Paul, MN/Nova Classical Academy) added 10 wins, and is now 33-30 on the year.
- Junior Olivia Weiss (Pittsburgh, PA/Pennsylvania Cyber Charter) was 13-4 against some strong competition last weekend, improving her team-best win total to 47 this season.
- Freshman foilist Mirit Rutishauser (New York, NY/LaGuardia School of Music & Art) has been a great addition this year, and is 37-24 in 2015-16.
- Freshman Rose Hulsey-Vincent (Woodinville, WA/Woodinville) is currently fourth in victories on the team with 40, as she totaled eight wins in epee last weekend.
- The sabre team has been led for the second straight year by Annie Innes-Gold (Northampton, MA/Northampton), as she has compiled a 42-17 record on the year.
- The foil team has led all squads in total wins in each day of competition for the Brewers this year except one, when the sabre squad added 58 victories during the Matt Lampell Invitational.
- Weiss has put together a great career, and now sits with 207 total dual match wins at Vassar College, the active leader of any Brewer fencer.

A Look At The Northeast Fencing Conference
- Eight teams come into the weekend with at least one victory within the conference, paced by BC and Brandeis with six. MIT is just one win behind with five, as the Engineers fell only to the Judges in day one of competition back in November.
- Vassar's first opponent on Saturday, MIT, should have quite the showdown in women's foil. Jessica Li is 17-1 in NFC competition so far, while teammate Cheyenne Hua won 72.2 percent of her bouts in foil so far. Madison Douglas paces the sabre clan for the Engineers, while Margaret Bertoni has gone 11-4 so far in epee to lead MIT.
- The Brewers second opponent is Smith College, who will also be opening league competition. Smith earned just one victory last year in NFC action, knocking off Boston University 16-11.
- Boston College will be the noon squad VC will face, and it'll be a tough test for Vassar. Linda Zhang went 11-1 in foil, while four BC epee fencers won 75 percent or higher in their bouts. The sabre team for the Eagles looks strong as well, led by Marney Krupat (15-1 NFC) and Laura Donovan (13-2).
- The Jumbos of Tufts are up for Vassar after lunch, as TU opens NFC action Saturday afternoon. Tufts finished fifth in the conference with seven wins to its credit, and will boast a strong epee and sabre lineup.
- Conference leading Brandeis has a very strong epee squad, led by Sonya Glickman, Gwen Mowell and Liz Feller. Each has won over 71 percent of their league matches thus far. Joanne Carminucci is 11-2 in foil for the Judges, while Ashley Jean and Nina Sayles have each gone 14-2 to pace the sabre team for BU.
- The Brown University Bears picked up four wins in the first day of NFC action, falling only to BC and Sacred Heart back in November. Brown has a very strong foil team, led by Audrey Lee and Clarissa Allen, as both are 16-2 in league action. Lauren Altman is strong in sabre, though Brown's epee team doesn't have anyone winning over 62 percent of her bouts so far.

Up Next
The Brewers will travel to Yale University to take on the Bulldogs January 30 at 2 p.m. in a single dual match for the Brewers in New Haven, CT.