Women's Fencing Places Strong 3rd at EWFC Championship Meet

MADISON, NJ (February 16, 2025) - The Tufts University women's fencing team had a strong third-place finish out of 11 teams at the Eastern Women's Fencing Championship (EWFC) hosted by Drew University on Sunday.

Tufts, ranked sixth in the recently-released USFCA Mid-Season DIII poll, capped its day with a solid 15-12 win over third-ranked Johns Hopkins University in the third-place match.

The Jumbos had two individuals earn EWFC Fencer of the Year awards. Junior Karen Bei was undefeated in her 13 matches at the tournament to receive the Epee Fencer of the Year honor. Senior Shannon Chen had a 14-1 record (.933) on the day and was named the EWFC Foil Fencer of the Year. Head coach Jason Sachs' Tufts team was also the recipient of the EWFC Roi Green Memorial Team Sportsmanship Award.

For the opening rounds, the 11 teams were split into two groups with Tufts part of a five-team Pool A. In round-robin action, the Jumbos went 3-1 in the pool for second place. They defeated Hunter College 26-1, Vassar College 21-6 and Haverford College 23-4. The Jumbos lost a close match to Pool A winner Denison University 15-12.

In the match against Denison, Tufts lost by the slimmest margin of 5-4 in each weapon. Sophomore Nitika Subramanian in sabre and Bei in epee both won all three of their matches against the Big Red. Senior Shannon Chen won two of her three foil bouts.

That put Tufts into the third-place match versus Hopkins, who were second behind Wellesley College in Pool B. The Jumbos had 6-3 wins in foil and epee to power their victory against the Blue Jays. Chen in foil and Bei in epee were both 3-0. Graduate student Lea Levi won twice in foil, as did senior Olivia Tomasello in epee and senior Millie Girardi in sabre.

The Jumbos were 37-8 in foil in their five matches, led by the 14-1 mark from Chen. Levi (10-3, .769) and first-year Saanvi Kapoor (10-4, .714) were also big winners.

Tufts was 30-15 in both sabre and epee. In addition to Bei's undefeated day, Tomasello in epee had six wins in eight matches (.750). Senior Ayelet Book contributed six victories and sophomore Mikayla Joseph added five more.

Subramanian won nine out of 10 (.900) to lead the sabre team, while Girardi and senior Anat Katz both totaled seven wins. Sophomore Olympe Jean was unbeaten in four sabre bouts.

An individual competition was originally scheduled as part of the meet, but was canceled after the start time was delayed due to inclement weather.

Now with an 18-19 overall dual meet record, Tufts will be back at Drew University on March 1 for the NIWFA Championships.