Welcome to my parlor said the spider to the fly.
This weekend the Blue Devil fencing teams hosted Air Force, Stanford, North Carolina, Notre Dame, and Columbia in Card Gym for their annual tournament. Both men's and women's squads managed 2-3 marks, falling a few timely touches away from a winning weekend.
The men's team kicked the action off on Friday but got off to a sluggish start. Defending epee champion Jeremy Kahn, who finished 10-5 on the day, lost his opening bout 5-3 against Air Force's No. 3 epee fencer.
"We just weren't awake yet," Kahn said. "It was the first match of the day and it just takes a little time to get warmed up."
Duke started out losing the first five out of six bouts, but went on to win the next six out of nine to get back on track and defeat the Falcons 17-10. Epee, which went 5-4, was led by Kahn and Brian Hartman who both went 2-1 for the match. The sabre contingent went 3-6 and was led by Mike Baughman who was 2-1 for the match and compiled a 9-6 record for the day.
Foil led the way against Air Force as Paul Palmeri, who went 12-3 on the day, spearheaded an impressive 9-0 slaughter of the Falcons.
Duke next fenced Stanford, a much more formidable foe. Epee was only able to pick up one Jeremy Kahn victory in a 1-8 loss.
Foil did not fare any better against the Cardinal-who also won the team foil title-falling 2-7, led by Palmeri's 2-1 mark. Sabre fared best, finishing 3-6, led by Baughman's 2-1 performance.
Duke started out its next match against the Tar Heels flat, falling behind 2-6.
The Blue Devils bounced back to down Carolina 17-10 as Kahn went 3-0 against the Tar Heels to led epee to a 7-2 victory. Palmeri went 3-0 to lead foil to a 6-3 victory and Baughman went 2-1 to allow sabre to post a 4-5 record.
"UNC-they aren't a very skilled team, but they always fence above their ability," Kahn said. "We're a better team than they are, We should beat them every time we fence them, at least this year."
In Duke's next match against Notre Dame, epee went 6-3 led by Kahn's 3-0 record. In typical fashion Kahn disposed of Brice Dille who finished 22nd in the NCAA's last year, 5-1. Foil faltered, however, falling 3-6 and, despite a win from Tom Halleran, the sabre contingent fell 2-7. The Blue Devils fell to 2-2 on the day, 16-11.
Duke's lost its final match to Columbia, 11-16. Foil was led by Palmeri and Bob Manchen, who both had two wins in foil's 5-4 win. Both sabre and epee went 3-6, however, as Baughman led sabre with two wins, while the epee team all went 1-2.
Despite the 2-3 mark, most of the team felt it fenced well. In particular, sabre which has had it's share of problems on the year, was able to fence well enough to give epee and foil a chance to win.
Saturday, the women's team took to the strip to face the same five opponents. The Blue Devils started out strong by winning their first two matches. Duke defeated Air Force 22-10 led by a dominating 15-1 performance from foil with Sarah Hamilton, Jenn Brockett and Ann Stewart tallying a combined 12-0 record.
Epee did not fair as well, going 7-9 against Air Force, but responded with a vengeance in their next match against Stanford. Epee was led by Katharine Nichols, Katharine Tsyanite and Micha Glod, each of whom had a 3-1 record. Epee won its first five bouts against Stanford, giving them a 10-6 victory over Stanford.
"Stanford was great," Nichols said. "I remember last year we were beat pretty badly by the Stanford epee squad. We just had huge girls running at us and it was just the scariest thing I'd ever seen. We just came at them this time kind of saying no, not in our house."
Foil went 10-6 against Stanford as both Brockett and Stewart posted 3-1 records.
The tide began to turn for the worse for the women's team against Carolina. Duke dropped the 17-15 thriller as it came down to the last bout between Sarah Cairney and UNC's Lora Kizer. Kizer rose to the occasion, dominating 5-1. For the match, the Tar Heels exploited Duke's aggressiveness and used the four minute time limit on each bout to their advantage.
"Yeah it was really exhausting, the way they fenced was to take it to time, each match," Nichols said. "They would be hoping to get up a couple of touches and wait for you. It was kind of a war of attrition."
After losing a tough match against Carolina, Duke had to turn right back around and face Notre Dame, a team that will contend for the national title. The Irish easily defeated Duke 20-12 as both the epee and foil squads went 6-10 in the match.
"We actually fenced really well against Notre Dame," Nichols said. "Notre Dame is an incredibly strong team, and last year we were just whupped."
In the final match of the day a weary Blue Devil squad faced a talented Columbia team. Foil was ambushed and could only manage one win, posting a 1-15 mark.
Epee was able to muster a much better showing, finishing with a 9-7 mark. They were led by Nichols and Cairney, both of whom went 3-1. The team also had to battle fatigue, but was able to win by determination, skill and the knowledge of Jeremy Kahn.
"I was really tired at that point-Jeremy did a great job," Nichols said. "He stuck with our epee team all day giving pointers and help. He would tell you exactly what the other person was doing, and what you were doing, and what you can do to beat her."
The last match of the day was also the last match for senior Sarah Cairney. Cairney was able to go out a with win in her last bout. After the win her team gave her a standing ovation and head coach Alex Beguinet presented her with a rose.
"Alex is possibly the best coach in the world-he is just wonderful so it made my day," Cairney said.
Both the men's and women's teams have finished their regular seasons and will prepare for regionals and hopefully nationals, which are in March.
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