POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. (November 12, 2023) – Senior sabreuse Alana Schmitt finished with a team-high 11 wins to lead the Stevens Institute of Technology women's fencing team Sunday at the Vassar College Invitational at the Walker Field House.

Graduate student Claire McNeill (epee) finished the day with eight wins, while first-years Sasha Craine (epee) and Sofia Stoeckel (sabre) for the Ducks, who finished the day 2-5 against a slate that featured four Division I programs and four nationally-ranked teams. The 2-5 mark on the day saw the Ducks drop to 11-7 on the year.

Collectively, the Ducks began the day with a 24-3 win over Yeshiva and a 15-12 triumph over Sacred Heart. The Ducks then fell to No. 10 Cornell (24-3) and No. 12 Yale (22-5) before closing the day with setbacks to Wagner (17-10), No. 5 Tufts (18-9) and No. 4 Wellesley. Contextually, the Ducks have won the last 43 meetings with Yeshiva, while returning to their winning ways against Sacred Heart, avenging last season's loss to the Pioneers. The matchup with Yale is believed to be the first between the programs. Stevens and Tufts have split the last four meetings. Both Cornell and Yale are ranked in the United States Fencing Coaches Association Poll for all programs, while Tufts and Wellesley are ranked in the Division III-specific poll.

The Rundown

• The Ducks began the day with an impressive 24-3 win over Yeshiva. The epee team pitched a 9-0 shutout and 10 different fencers posted a perfect record. Crain joined junior Jasmine Chen (sabre) and classmate Zoya Duarte-Garcia and senior Victoria Beke and junior Renny Victoria in going 3-0. The early success spilled over to the second bout of the day with the teams alternating 5-4 decisions at foil (Stevens) and sabre (Sacred Heart), before the epeeists scored a 6-3 triump over their counterparts. McNeill joined Stockel and first-year Grace Hicks in going 2-1 against the Pioneers, while Craine, Schmitt and sophomore Emily Zgombic finished with the same record in their respective weapon.
• The epee squad accounted for all of the Ducks' wins against Cornell, with Hicks winning twice and Stoeckel once. Against Yale, the team's second Ivy League opponent of the day, Schmitt posted an impressive 2-1 record, while junior Arianna Daringa joined Craine in winning once. Duarte-Garcia had the lone epee win of the match.
• Epee was the deciding factor against Wagner, with the Ducks (sabre) and the Seahawks (foil) each posting respective 5-4 wins. Schmitt and junior Alyssa Ip each went 2-1 against Wagner, while Daringa, Zgombic, junior Elizabeth MacDonald and first-years Akemi Rodriguez and Paris Sepulveda all won once. 
• The epee group would win its final two bouts of the day by identical 6-3 margins over Tufts and Wellesley. McNeill won three times against the Jumbos and twice more against Wellesley to cross the 250-career win plateau. Schmitt went a perfect 3-0 against the Blue and went 5-1 over against the Ducks' final two opponents of the day.
• In terms of individual wins, Hicks finished with six wins, while Daringa and Duarte-Garcia each finished with five. Zgombic and Rodriguez each totaled four victories, while MacDonald, Chen, Beke and Victoria each capped their day with three. Ip joined sophomore Amber Muzones, first-year Sharon Braun and junior Nerissa Lundquist in winning a pair of bouts, while Sepulveda won once to round out the Ducks' victories on the day.

Top Performers

• Collectively, the epee group had the best winning percentage for the first time this season, finishing with a 32-31 record. The sabre group nearly matched the sabre team's performance with a 30-33 record, while the foilists went 16-47. As a team, Stevens finished with a 78-111 mark on the day, although the Ducks went 45-36 against Division III competition.
• Within their respective weapon groups, epee led the way with four wins and the sabre squad had three, while the foil team won twice. Epee topped Yeshiva (9-0), Sacred Heart (6-3), Tufts (6-3) and Wellesley (6-3). The sabre squad bested Yeshiva (8-1), Wagner (5-4) and Wellesley (6-3), while the foil team downed Yeshiva (7-2) and Sacred Heart (5-4).

Coach's Comments

• "It was a tough day for us with many strong Division I teams in the field. We did have some good quality individual wins for NCAA qualification points." – assistant coach Linda Vollkommer-Lynch

Up Next

• Stevens returns to the strips on Saturday, Nov. 18 for the annual Columbia University Invitational with matches against NJIT and No. 3 Columbia. The event will close out the Ducks' fall semester intercollegiate events.

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