NEW YORK (February 10, 2016) – The Vassar College women's fencing team traveled to the Big Apple Wednesday evening to take on two top NCAA squads, battling New York University and No. 1 Columbia University in action from Columbia. The Brewers were narrowly topped by the Violets 16-11 in the opening round of action, while VC dropped a 22-5 decision to the host Lions in the nightcap.

Against New York University, Vassar's dominant foil trio continued its solid success of late, earning a 6-3 win for the squad. Sophomore Kirsten Denman (Yellow Springs, OH/Yellow Springs) tallied wins in all three of her bouts, outscoring her opponents 15-7 in the three contests.

Freshman foilist Sophie Blumenstock (St. Paul, MN/Nova Classical Academy) picked up a 5-0 win in her second bout over Yasmeen Omer, and followed that up with a 5-1 defeat of Alisa Traskunov. Freshman Mirit Rutishauser (New York, NY/LaGuardia Music Art) also knocked off Omer 5-4 in her final bout of the first round.

In women's epee, the Brewers narrowly fell 5-4 in a tightly-contested battle. Junior Olivia Weiss (Pittsburgh, PA/Pennsylvania Cyber Charter) continued to rack up wins with a pair of victories, defeating Hannah Bennett 5-3 and Joanna Tabor 5-1. Freshman Rose Hulsey-Vincent (Woodinville, WA/Woodinville) picked up a win over Marissa Posner 5-2, and senior Amreen Bhasin (Riverdale, NJ/Cresskill) also knocked off Posner in an exciting 5-4 bout.

Vassar's lone sabre win came from sophomore Annie Innes-Gold (Northampton, MA/Northampton), as she chalked up a 5-1 victory over Maria Free. Against top-ranked Columbia, senior Lily Elbaum (Troy, NY/Ottumwa) picked up a nice 5-4 win over Audrey Yun.

The Brewer's lone win in foil came from Denman, as she defeated Iman Blow 5-2, as the foil squad fell 8-1 to the Lions. Vassar's epee team earned three victories, as Hulsey-Vincent chalked up a pair of wins. The freshman defeated Elise Gout 5-2, following that up with a 5-3 win over Vivian Rand to end the night. Vassar's other win came from Rachel Messbauer (Springfield, MA/MacDuffie School), as she earned a 5-2 victory over Amy Tong.

Vassar will finish its dual meet schedule this Sunday morning at 9 a.m., as the Brewers travel to Hunter College to participate in the Eastern Women's Fencing Conference Championships.