CHESTNUT HILL, MA (January 23, 2016) – The Vassar College women's fencing team picked a pair of victories in six matches Saturday afternoon at its first Northeast Fencing Conference meet of the year, hosted by Boston College in the Flynn Recreation Center.

The Brewers were in all six of their matches on the day, but were still able to defeat Smith College 22-5 before just tripping up the Jumbos of Tufts University 14-13 in a nail biter. Vassar dropped 15-12 decisions to both Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Brandeis University, falling to Boston College and Brown University by the same 17-10 score line.

In the opening match of the day, the Brewers nearly upset the Engineers, as sophomore Annie Innes-Gold (Northampton, MA/Northampton) chalked up three wins in sabre, with teammate Lily Elbaum (Troy, NY/Ottumwa) adding two more. Junior Olivia Weiss (Pittsburgh, PA/Pennsylvania Cyber Charter) finished with a pair of wins against the Engineers, while foilist Kirsten Denman (Yellow Springs, OH/Yellow Springs) also registered two victories.

Against the Pioneers of Smith College, the Brewers pushed past their opponents in lop-sided fashion thanks to a balanced effort across the weapons. Senior Rachel Messbauer (Springfield, MA/MacDuffie School) was a perfect 3-0 in epee, while squad mates Amreen Bhasin (Cresskill, NJ/Riverdale) and Maggie Shepherd (Sausalito, CA/Novato) also added two more victories apiece.

Junior Elsa Stoff (Fair Haven, NJ/Rumson-Fair Haven) chalked up three wins against Smith in foil, as did fellow foil fencer Sophie Blumenstock (St. Paul, MN/Nova Classical Academy). Innes-Gold registered two wins along with Elbaum in sabre for the Brewers against the Pioneers.

In round three against the host Eagles, Blumenstock and Denman each chalked up two more wins apiece in foil, with Innes-Gold booking a pair of bout triumphs for the Brewers. Round four was a thriller for the Brewers, but the seven victories from Vassar's foil squad proved to be the difference in a 14-13 win over Tufts.

In that win, Denman and Stoff each added a perfect 3-0 record, while Innes-Gold matched their efforts in sabre. Weiss and fellow epee fencer Rose Hulsey-Vincent (Woodinville, WA/Woodinville) both had two important wins each as well for VC.

In round five against Brandeis, Weiss continued her strong afternoon with three more victories in epee, and Denman led the foil squad once more with another perfect round of fencing in foil. Innes-Gold chalked up her third 3-0 match of the day against Brandeis, and Messbauer and Hulsey-Vincent each tallied wins in epee as well.

The finale of the day came against Brown University, and Denman finished the afternoon with three more victories and ended the day with nine consecutive wins. The same could be said for Innes-Gold, who had a great afternoon of fencing in sabre, leading all Brewer women with 16 victories in 18 bouts.

Denman was right behind her with 14 bout wins, while Weiss led all epee fencers with nine triumphs. Stoff finished with eight victories on the day in foil, and Blumenstock also posted five wins in spot duty in foil. In all, Vassar had six fencers who won five or more bouts Saturday afternoon.

The Brewers will return to the strip next Saturday, traveling to Yale University to take on the Bulldogs in a dual match in New Haven, CT at 2 p.m. in non-conference action.