NEW YORK, N.Y. (November 19, 2021)  – Six different student-athletes posted at least one victory as the Stevens Institute of Technology women's fencing team fell to Columbia University and Johns Hopkins University Friday evening at the Columbia Invitational.

Sophomore Alana Schmitt and senior Kiera Barnes joined juniors Leigha Capra and Claire McNeill in earning victories in the opening match against the Lions. Seniors Sara Persau and Kayleigh Kubut, along with Capra, McNeill, first-year Arianna Daringa, Schmitt and Barnes all posted individual wins against the Blue Jays in the nightcap. As a team, the Ducks fell to Columbia 22-5 before falling to Johns Hopkins via a 19-8 decision. Stevens wrapped up the first half of its scheduled 19-8.

"It was a tough evening for us, facing two great teams in Columbia and Johns Hopkins," said head coach Linda Vollkommer-Lynch. "Against Johns Hopkins, there were a lot of close bouts and we hope to learn from them and improve on our performance at our conference championship. Columbia presented a real challenge for us as a great Ivy League program - we gained a lot of valuable experience fencing them."

Against Columbia, the Ducks earned a pair of victories at saber, with Schmitt posting the Ducks' first victory of the day with a 5-1 victory over Anika Tsapatsaris. The Ducks picked up their second saber point when Barnes scored a 5-2 victory over Charlotte DePew. The epee squad picked up the other three wins in the match, with Capra getting things started with a thrilling 5-4 decision over Kenya Plenty and McNeill earning two points with wins over Olive Lee (5-3) and Plenty (5-1).

In the nightcap, the Ducks saw the saber group go toe-to-toe with the two-time defending EWFC champions, scoring wins in four of the nine bouts. Daringa picked up the first saber point for the Ducks, scoring a 5-3 decision over Sanya Bawa. Schmitt followed suit with a 5-4 win over Bawa. Schmitt posted a decisive 5-1 win over Grace Van Atta before Barnes topped Bawa via a 5-3 score to close the saber matches. Persau and Kubit had wins at foil and Capra and McNeill had wins at epee as Johns Hopkins posted 7-2 wins in each weapon to produce the final margin of victory.

Up Next: Women's fencing breaks for the holiday season and returns to the strips on Jan. 30, 2022 for the annual Eric Sollee Invitational, hosted by MIT.

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