Haverford College Fencing: Scores/Summaries

Halli Melnitsky (2nd in sabre), Rachel Lieberman (7th in foil) and Melanie Preston (8th in epee) had the top "A" strip finishes for the Fords, whose fourth-place finish improved on last year's sixth-place effort, and back-to-back fifth-places in 2003-04.

Haverford was also fifth in two-weapon NIWFA competition in 1997, before the advent of intercollegiate sabre fencing for women.

The strength of fencing by Melnitsky, Dana Litowitz (4th on B strip) and Victoria Vargas (14th on C) gained the Fords fourth-place -- their highest sabre finish ever, and a weapon-place bettered only by runner-up Haverford to Temple in foil in 2003. The Owls have won the last 11 Olympians trophies and nine straight Fish awards through Sunday.
Lieberman was a finalist in foil for the fourth straight year, placing 7th, 10th, 5th and 7th from 2003-06, respectively. She was joined by B-strip winner Jen Carman and 12th-place C-strip Hope Kaye in getting the Fords sixth-place in foil by tie-breakers over Drew and Johns Hopkins.

Preston, Amy Buzby (5th on B strip) and Vanessa Pena (6th on C strip) converted their performances into another tie-breaker win over Johns Hopkins for fifth-place in epee, helping the Fords edge their traditional Division III rival plus several Division I programs.

Men's Fencing 2005-2006 Results
Scroll down for women's fencing results/summaries
Overall Record: 13-12
Conference Record: 12-1

Date		Opponent	Result
November 20	vs.	William & Mary	W	15-12
November 20	vs.	Virginia Tech	W	22-5
November 20	vs.	St. John's (Md.)	W	26-1
November 20	vs.	Virginia *	W	23-4
January 22		Johns Hopkins (at Penn)	W	15-12
January 22		North Carolina (at Penn)	L	13-14
January 22		Duke (at Penn)	L	10-17
January 22		Rutgers (at Penn)	L	7-21
January 28	at	Penn	L	6-21
January 28		Columbia (at Penn)	L	2-25
January 28		North Carolina (at Penn)	L	10-17
January 28		Duke (at Penn)	L	11-16
January 29		Lafayette (at Drew)	W	21-6
January 29		Cornell (at Drew)	W	17-10
January 29	at	Drew	L	13-14
January 29		Army (at Drew)	W	14-13
February 5		MIT (at Brandeis)	W	17-10
February 5		Boston College (at Brandeis)	L	11-16
February 5		Penn State (at Brandeis)	L	4-23
February 5		NYU (at Brandeis)	L	8-19
February 5	at	Brandeis	L	10-17
February 19		Stevens (at NJIT)	W	21-6
February 19		Stevens (at NJIT)	W	25-2
February 19		Army (at NJIT)	W	22-5
February 19		Yeshiva (at NJIT)	W	21-6

Men's Fencing 2005-06 Summaries

Eastern Women's Fencing Conference commissioner Damion Jones has announced the 2005-06 EWFC All-Star Team. The squad, consisting of 27 student-athletes, was selected via votes from the conference's six head coaches for the sixth consecutive season.

Foil Fencer of the Year honors were earned by Amy Lester of Drew University. The Foil First Team All-Stars were Drew teammates Nour Attyeh and Stephanie Godlewski, Rachel Lieberman of Haverford College, and Helen Kourlos from Stevens Institute of Technology. Named as Foil Second Team All-Stars were Rachel Cortez of Stevens Tech, Jennifer Carman of Haverford, Lepei Xie of Hunter College, and Jenny Ng from the City College of New York.

Epee Fencer of the Year accolades went to Melanie Preston of Haverford. The Epee First Team All-Stars were Judith Generoso and Rachel Cannell of Stevens Tech alongside Naomi Bocarsly and Katherine Flynn of Drew. Tabbed as Epee Second Team All-Stars were Amy Buzby and Vanessa Pena of Haverford, Brenna Rabel of Drew, and Emily Freier from Stevens Tech.

Saber Fencer of the Year laurels went to Halli Melnitsky of Haverford by a unanimous margin. The Saber First Team All-Stars were Kimberly Baldino, Emma Nostrand, and Alexandra Wheeler of Drew along with Apryl Webb of Stevens Tech. Chosen as Saber Second Team All-Stars were Nicole Moldovan and Laura Sodon of Stevens Tech, Leora Ross Elman of Yeshiva University, and Anna Alperovich from Hunter.

Drew University collected the Coaching Staff of the Year award for the second straight season. Head coach Dayn DeRose and his staff guided the Rangers to a perfect 5-0 record and their fourth consecutive conference title at this winter's EWFC Championships.
Stevens Tech finished in the runner-up spot at the EWFC Championships with a 4-1 dual meet mark for the day. League newcomer Haverford placed third with a 3-2
slate in its debut effort. CCNY (2-3), Hunter (1-4), and Yeshiva (0-5) rounded out the conference standings.

The EWFC is now enjoying its sixth year of existence. Charter members City College of New York, Hunter College, Stevens Institute of Technology, and Yeshiva University were joined by Drew University in the 2002-03 season and Haverford College in the 2005-06 campaign.

FOIL FENCER OF THE YEAR
- Amy Lester (Drew)

FOIL FIRST TEAM ALL-STARS
- Stephanie Godlewski (Drew)
- RACHEL LIEBERMAN (HAVERFORD)
- Helen Kourlos (Stevens Tech)
- Nour Attyeh (Drew)

FOIL SECOND TEAM ALL-STARS
- Rachel Cortez (Stevens Tech)
- JENNIFER CARMAN (HAVERFORD)
- Lepei Xie (Hunter)
- Jenny Ng (CCNY)

EPEE FENCER OF THE YEAR
- MELANIE PRESTON (HAVERFORD)

EPEE FIRST TEAM ALL-STARS
- Judith Generoso (Stevens Tech)
- Naomi Bocarsly (Drew)
- Katherine Flynn (Drew)
- Rachel Cannell (Stevens Tech)

EPEE SECOND TEAM ALL-STARS
- AMY BUZBY (HAVERFORD)
- Brenna Rabel (Drew)
- Emily Freier (Stevens Tech)
- VANESSA PENA (HAVERFORD)

SABER FENCER OF THE YEAR
- HALLI MELNITSKY (HAVERFORD)

SABER FIRST TEAM ALL-STARS
- Kimberly Baldino (Drew)
- Emma Nostrand (Drew)
- Alexandra Wheeler (Drew)
- Apryl Webb (Stevens Tech)

SABER SECOND TEAM ALL-STARS
- Nicole Moldovan (Stevens Tech)
- Laura Sodon (Stevens Tech)
- Leora Ross Elman (Yeshiva)
- Anna Alperovich (Hunter)

COACHING STAFF OF THE YEAR
- Drew University

DURHAM, N.C. -- The Fords' Woden Kusner earned a satisfying 12th-place finish as his similarly-seeded fellow foilists Max Rosen-Long and Chris Rogers placed 26th and 28th, respectively.

Three-time NCAA qualifier and two-time MACFA sabre champion Chris Flanders missed the chance to qualify for his fourth straight national appearance due to an injury he sustained while successfully defending his conference title last weekend.

In Flanders' absence, Thomas Veltman and Daniel Arnstein finished 20-21 in sabre, and Colin Sullivan, Colin Cross and Arjun Tasker placed 21-26-33 in epee after their strong performances last week at MACFAs.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Haverford outdueled Army for third-place overall behind Drew and Johns Hopkins Universities Sunday, earning head coach Dave Littell MACFA Coach of the Year honors for his team's performance.

Chris Flanders was the individual sabre champion for the Fords, who finished second in that weapon, while third-place epee got its top individual performance from fourth-place Arjun Tasker.2/19/06 Fords Sweep Four MACFA Opponents at New Jersey Institute of Technology

NEWARK, N.J. -- Haverford soundly won its final four MACFA meets Sunday at NJIT in a good lead-up to the conference tournament next Sunday at St. John's College in Annapolis. The team ended the MACFA dual meet season 12-1, losing only once, 14-13, to Drew University earlier in the season. Many fencers had outstanding records for the day. In sabre, junior Thomas Veltman was 6-0, freshman Dan Arnstein went 9-2, senior co-captain Chris Flanders was 5-1, frosh Mark Adelsberg was 5-2 and sophomore Chris DeAngelo was 4-2.

In epee, junior Colin Sullivan (10-0), freshman Colin Cross (11-1) and junior Brandon West (11-1) carried most of the weight in the epee team's strongest showing of the season. Senior co-captain Andrew Feierabend was 4-1 in his last college meet.

Foil also had a solid day with all six team members contributing. Senior co captain Josh Mertz (5-0) and freshman Max Rosen-Long (4-0) were both undefeated. Junior Woden Kusner (3-1) and Chris Rogers (3-1) each had only one loss and junior Andrew Fiddner (5-3) and freshman Brian Wexler (2-3) made contributions as well.

STATE COLLEGE -- Foilists Max Rosen-Long, Chris Rogers, Woden Kusner, Andrew Fiddner and Josh Mertz had an excellent day beating both UNC, 6-3, and Duke, 7-2, after winning three bouts against a very strong Penn team.

MADISON, N.J. -- The Fords won three matches but dropped close one to MACFA rival Drew despite six points from foil and four from sabre, including a 3-0 mark from Chris Flanders. The day's other highlight was a 9-0 foil win against Lafayette.

report by Josh Mertz '06

PHILADELPHIA -- Haverford started the day decently against regional power Duke. Foil posted the best results by winning 4-of-9 against the Blue Devils. Epee and sabre both posted 3-to-6 records.

In the most exciting match of the year, Haverford defeated Hopkins for the first time since a 17-10 win on Feb. 9, 1980. Coming into the match, prepped and ready with encouragement from some fencing alumni, Haverford marched forward to knock the Blue Jays out of the sky. Captain Chris Flanders '06 (sabre, 9-3 on day) and Sullivan '07 (epee) both went 3-0, Woden Kusner '07(foil), Chris Rogers '08 (foil), and Arjun Tasker '07 (epee) all went 2-1. Also leading to the win were superior performances from freshmen Bumgardner (1-2) and Max Rosen-Long (1-2). Other victories came from Veltman '07 (1-2). This result shocked the bluejays who we believe have NEVER lost in foil, and who were slated to have one of the best teams in the conference. It is safe to say that they will now consider Haverford a very large threat.

The North Carolina meet was also exciting as Haverford nearly beat the Tarheels for the second time in three years. Stupendous bouts from Flanders, Rogers, Kusner, Rosen-Long and Tasker made the meet especially enjoyable to watch. One of the highlights was the overtime bout between freshman Rosen-Long and UNC's Lawrence, which captivated the audience at each touch.

The team did well as a whole and look to continue fencing hard next weekend as they travel to Penn State and Duke.

HAVERFORD -- All three weapons performed well in Sunday's home tournament, with foil having the best day overall (30-6) but also suffering the only defeat by a Haverford weapon against four club opponents.

Freshman Max Rosen-Long (8-1) had an auspicious debut, while fellow foilists Josh Mertz and Woden Kusner each went 5-1 and helped the Fords sweep Virginia Tech and St. John's in that weapon before a 5-4 loss to William & Mary.

Epee and sabre both went an impressive 28-8 on the day, with the most wins coming from sabreist Jonathan Klein (7-2) and epeeists Arjun Tasker (7-1), Colin Sullivan (6-1) and Jeff Bumgardner (6-2). Other five-bout winners included Mark Adelsberg (5-0) and Thomas Veltman (5-1) in sabre and Colin Cross (5-2) in epee.

Women's Fencing 2005-2006 Results
Overall Record: 7-18

Date		Opponent	Result
November 20	vs.	Virginia	W	18-9
November 20	vs.	Fairleigh Dickinson-Teaneck	L	10-17
November 20	vs.	Hunter	W	22-5
November 20	vs.	Army (USMA)	W	20-7
November 20	vs.	Virginia Tech	W	17-10
January 22		Cornell (at Penn)	L	6-21
January 22		Duke (at Penn)	L	5-22
January 22		North Carolina (at Penn)	L	11-16
January 22		Rutgers (at Penn)	L	11-16
January 22		Temple (at Penn)	L	5-22
January 28		North Carolina (at Penn State)	L	7-20
January 28		Duke (at Penn State)	L	9-18
January 28		Penn (at Penn State)	L	4-23
January 28		Columbia (at Penn State)	L	3-24
January 28		Temple (at Penn State)	L	3-24
February 5		MIT (at Brandeis)	L	11-16
February 5		Boston College (at Brandeis)	L	7-20
February 5		Penn State (at Brandeis)	L	2-25
February 5		NYU (at Brandeis)	L	9-18
February 5	at	Brandeis	L	9-18
February 19		Drew (at Stevens)	L	9-18
February 19		CCNY (at Stevens)	W	18-9
February 19		Hunter (at Stevens)	W	23-4
February 19	at	Stevens	L	9-18
February 19		Yeshiva (at Stevens)	W	21-6

Women's Fencing 2005-2006 Summaries

3/4/06 NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regionals at Duke

DURHAM, N.C. -- Halli Melnitsky had the top individual finish for Haverford, with her ninth-place effort in sabre, but she will need an at-large invitation in order to return to the NCAA championships in two weeks.

Dana Litowitz also competed in sabre, improving on her 32nd-seed to finish 28th.
Rachel Lieberman was 18th in foil -- a better finish than five fencers seeded ahead of her -- while Vanessa Pena, Amy Buzby and Melanie Preston placed 27-33-35, respectively, in epee.

Mildred Stuyvesant Fish (Foil) Trophy
Temple 39, Tufts 34, Army 29, Florida FC 28, FDU-Teaneck 27, HAVERFORD 26 (54), Drew 26 (40), Johns Hopkins 26 (26)

Raymond Miller (Epee) Trophy
Drew 36, Temple 34, FDU-Teaneck 32 (80), Stevens Institute 32 (69), HAVERFORD 24 (27), Johns Hopkins 24 (11), Florida FC 23, Virginia Tech 19

Giorgio Santelli (Sabre) Trophy
Tufts 36, Drew 34, Temple 33, HAVERFORD 24, Johns Hopkins 23 (25), Army 23 (17), Florida FC 22, Smith 20

MEDFORD, Mass. -- Halli Melnitsky (2nd in sabre), Rachel Lieberman (7th in foil) and Melanie Preston (8th in epee) had the top "A" strip finishes for the Fords, whose fourth-place finish improved on last year's sixth-place effort, and back-to-back fifth-places in 2003-04.

Haverford was also fifth in two-weapon NIWFA competition in 1997, before the advent of intercollegiate sabre fencing for women.

HOBOKEN, N.J. -- The Haverford women placed 3rd in the Eastern Women’s Fencing Conference after defeating CCNY, Hunter, and Yeshiva and falling to Drew and Stevens Tech.

Saberist Halli Melnitsky led the way for the Fords with a 13-1 record on the day. Tori Vargas and Dana Litowitz each added five victories for the saber squad, and frosh Monica Kishore earned her first collegiate victory with a win against Hunter.

Epee fencer Melanie Preston had one of her best days of the season, going 13-2 in the five matches. Preston and Vanessa Peña (8-7 on the day) each had two victories against Stevens, and Amy Buzby (10-5) added one for the squad victory.

The foilists were led by Rachel Lieberman, who posted a 12-3 record. Lieberman and Jen Carman (9-6) each had two victories in the loss to Drew, and erstwhile epee fencer Hope Kaye contributed two victories against both Yeshiva and Hunter.

STATE COLLEGE -- Foilists Rachel Lieberman, Heather Rozjebek and Jen Carman beat Duke Saturday decisively after losing to the Blue Devils last week.

reported by Rachel Lieberman '06

PHILADELPHIA -- While competing against five highly ranked Division I teams at UPenn, the Fords were led by saberist Halli Melnitsky ‘08, who posted a stellar 12-3 record on the day. Melnitsky went 3-0 against Rutgers, Temple, and UNC, and one of her two wins against Duke came against Allison Schafer, who tied with Melnitsky for 17th-place at last year's NCAA Championships. Dana Litowitz ’08, added two wins against Rutgers to lead the sabre squad to a 5-4 victory.

The epee squad earned an impressive 6-3 victory against UNC, with Amy Buzby ’06, and Vanessa Peña ’09 each contributing two wins and Melanie Preston, ’09, and Hope Kaye, ’08, adding one apiece. Buzby also had two wins against a strong Temple squad.

The top result for the foil squad was a 5-4 win against Rutgers. Rachel Lieberman, ’06, went 3-0 against the Scarlet Knights, and Heather Rozjabek ’07, and Jen Carman ’06, each added a win to clinch the victory. The foilists had the best results against Cornell, with Lieberman, Carman, and Rozjabek each earning a win.

HAVERFORD -- Sophomore sabreist Halli Melnitzky and senior foilist Rachel Lieberman had the top days with identical 14-1 records for Haverford against two varsity and three club opponents Sunday.

Both fencers suffered their lone loss against a varsity foe from FDU, a team which edged the Fords in foil, 5-4, and dominated them in epee, 8-1. Haverford easily defeated their only other NCAA opponents from Division III Hunter, 22-5.

Sabre fencer Dana Litowitz and foilist Jen Carman were both 11-4 while fencing every bout. Vanessa Peña (8-3) had the top win total in epee. Kat Zukaitis successfully split her time between epee (4-1) and foil (3-3), while Victoria Vargas (7-5) was the other seven-bout winner for the Fords.

PHILADELPHIA -- Haverford soph Halli Melnitsky started off the 2005-06 fencing season with a major victory Saturday at the Temple Univ. Open in Philadelphia. Melnitsky won the sabre event, topping 70 others from up and down the East Coast and from all NCAA Divisions. Halli defeated Ali Schafer of Duke, 15-12, in the final, and a Temple
fencer in the semi-finals. Fords Dana Litowitz '08 and Victoria Vargas '08 were 47th and 57th, respectively in sabre.

In foil, Jen Carman '06 placed 15th overall and Capt. Rachel Lieberman 18th for a strong HC showing. Maryse Holly, one of five students flooded out of New Orleans and now attending Haverford until their colleges re-open, competed under the Haverford aegis, though technically unattached, and turned in a respectable performance. Maryse was studying at Xavier University until Katrina struck.

The epee team showed depth and consistency with Amy Buzby '06 32nd, Melanie Preston '09 37th, Kat Zukaitis '07 44th, Vanessa Pena '09 45th and Hope Kaye '08 62nd.