NEW YORK (February 17, 2017) -- The Vassar College men's fencing team traveled to the Big Apple Wednesday evening to battle to of the best NCAA teams in the nation, taking on No. 2 Columbia University and New York University in action from Upper Manhattan at Columbia. 

Against the hosts and defending national champions, Vassar looked to knock off the Lions for the second straight season after stunning Columbia 14-13 last season. It was not meant to be on Wednesday though, as Vassar fell to the Lions 17-10. The Brewer epee team did win their group match though, while sabre picked up three bout wins and foil earn a pair. 

In sabre, freshman Graeme Mills earned a pair of victories, knocking off senior Elijah Granet 5-4 and junior James Sands 5-3. Junior Eli Polston also picked up a win over Sands with a 5-1 score line. Freshman Aaron Choi earned a 5-4 win over Albert Zhang, and fellow newcomer Noe Berger took down Mack Berghouse with an emphatic 5-1. 

The only squad win for the Brewers was at epee, as juniors George Whiteside and Jonathan Alperstein each picked up two wins. Whitesite took down Maciej Biernacki 5-1 in the opening round, while Alperstein followed with a 5-0 blanking of Sacha Schouker. Senior Jackson Damman would capture a 5-3 victory over Jarett Poliner, helping VC to a sweep of the opening round. 

Whiteside would knock off Schouker 5-1, while Alperstein followed with a 5-0 win over Poliner to clinch the at epee for Vassar. Freshman Roman Guglielmo had a tight match as well in epee, but ended falling 5-3 to Biernacki. 

In the match with NYU, the Violets would control both foil and sabre, but Vassar again earned the win in epee with a 5-4 decision. The only win at foil for Vassar came compliments of freshman Jack Holmes, who defeated Eric Zobel 5-4. Unfortunately for VC, the Brewers had three other matches that came down to 5-4 scores, but NYU was able to earn the win. 

In epee, junior Daniel Swerzenski started the day with a 5-3 win over Alexandre Czepeaux, followed by a 5-2 decision for Whiteside over William Zhang. Alperstein knocked off Czepeaux 5-2 to give VC a 3-1 lead, and after a win by Whiteside, Swerzenski earned the squad victory with a 5-3 victory over Blake Xia. 

Vassar will have some time off before traveling to the University of Vermont for the New England Intercollegiate Fencing Conference Championships March 4 at 9 a.m.