Lunges, parries, strikes and shouts were the scene at Main Gym when UCSD fencing hosted an invitational meet on Nov. 14, with the men finishing 4-1 and the women 2-3.
On strike: UCSD fencing hosted their only home invitational meet of the year on Nov. 15. The men’s team finished 4-1 and the women finished 2-3.
Participants in the invitational were other members of the NCAA Western Region, including Stanford, Cal State Fullerton, Cal Tech and the Air Force Academy. Also in attendance was the West Point Academy. It was UCSD’s only home meet of the year.
The tournament had a round-robin format, with each squad facing all of the others. Men and women from each team competed separately in teams of three in each of three events: sabre, foil and epee. Each member of a three-person weapon team would match up against all three members of the opposing team for a total of nine first-to-five-point bouts per event and 27 total bouts per round.
The sabre is a slashing-edge weapon, and combatants score points by striking their opponents on any part of the body above the waist. The foil is a point weapon, with a flexible and rectangular blade. Points are scored when contact is made on the torso. Finally, the epee, another point weapon, has a triangular blade, and points are scored when contact is made on any part of the body.
“”Our men’s sabre team is the strength of our team and a national-class sabre squad,”” UCSD head coach Stuart Lee said. “”Those three all have the potential to make Nationals.””
Led by the sabre team, the men’s squad defeated Cal Tech, Air Force Academy, Cal State Fullerton and U.S. Military Academy, but lost to Stanford. The women’s squad defeated Cal Tech, Cal State Fullerton and U.S. Military Academy, but lost to Air Force Academy and Stanford. Both teams were led by strong efforts from freshman foilists; Jesse Taylor on the men’s side, going 14-1 for the day, and Lauren Walker for the women, who finished 12-3. It was the first NCAA event for each of the young fencers, both of whom fenced in high school.
“”I felt that my toughest competitors came from Cal State Fullerton,”” Walker said. “”All three members of their team were consistently strong, and I had some tough bouts with them. With the variety of competition at the collegiate level, you can never be overconfident.””
To the untrained eye, the event was nothing like a scene out of “”The Mask of Zorro,”” or any other “”fencing”” film. The action was slow and tentative at times, fast and intense at others, and occasionally even seemingly out of control, as combatants would charge one another. However, according to Taylor and Walker, the sport is an acquired taste.
“”Fencing isn’t your average spectator sport. It’s sort of like football ‹ if you don’t understand it, you’re lost … [but] once you get it explained to you, you still might not understand it all, but it becomes a lot more interesting.””
The meet was UCSD’s last event of the calendar year. Their next competition is Feb. 4 at Santa Barbara, Calif., against UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, UCLA and USC, all squads the team defeated earlier this season. Until then, Taylor, Walker and the rest of the team intend to continue training.
“”My personal goal is to make nationals in March,”” Taylor said.
