Bulldogs Sweep Home Meet and Celebrate Senior Day

Yale Defeats Long Island, Sacred Heart, Vassar

Class of 2020

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The Yale women's fencing team defeated Vassar, Sacred Heart and Long Island University in their first and only home meet of the season.

The morning opened with a 25-2 victory over Long Island, which only fielded a women's team. The foil squad won 9-0, with Anna Zhou, Jenny Zhao and Emme Zhou starting and Grace Baghdadi, Camille Pham and Julia Balch each substituting in for a winning bout in the final round. Balch, in the final bout of the lineup, pulled through to defeat her opponent 5-4. Epee squad won 7-2 with the combined efforts of starters Joy Ma, Shirley Wang and Michelle Nam. Ma substituted out to allow Jacqueline Hayre-Pérez a winning bout in the second round. Saber squad also won 9-0, with starters Sydney Hirsch, Sophia Zhuang and Lauren Kim all going undefeated against Long Island's two-woman squad.

Against Sacred Heart, the Bulldogs widened previous margins of victory from 19-8 last year and 21-6 the year before to 23-4 today. The foil squad again won 9-0, with Zhou, Pham, Zhao, Zhou, and Balch dropping only a handful of touches and thus all finishing with very high indicators. Epee squad won 8-1, with starters Ma, Wang and Nam each winning all of their bouts, and Hayre-Pérez substituting in for the final bout and losing a tough 5-4. The saber squad won 6-3, with starters Francesca Fedorovsky, Hirsch, and Kim each winning two of their three bouts and each falling to the same strong opponent.

The Bulldogs defeated Vassar, their final competitor, 26-1. Foil squad won 8-1, with the combined efforts of Zhao, Pham, Zhou, Baghdadi, and Zhou; Balch lost the final bout in priority with a hard-fount 3-4 final score. Epee squad won 9-0, with starters Ma, Nam and Wang all going undefeated. Saber squad also won 9-0, with starters Zhuang, Hirsch and Fedorovsky all going undefeated and all three fencers earning incredibly high +12 indicators.

After defeating five schools at the Philadelphia Invitational two weeks ago, today's three wins bring the Bulldogs' streak to eight consecutive victories.

Captain Anna Zhou says, "I'm so proud of the team today! I saw so much support on and off the strip—special shout-out to Handsome Dan for visiting and boosting team positivity!"

Lastly, the team celebrated the annual Senior Day Ceremony, honoring graduating seniors Michelle Nam, Jenny Zhao, Anna Zhou, and Samantha Wood for their contributions to the team, the fencing program, and Yale at large.

Reflecting on the experience, Zhou says that "senior day is always a day full of tears for me—it makes me realize how short the rest of the season is and how little time I have left with the team. I'll miss these ladies so much next year, but I am excited to see us kill it next weekend!"

Indeed, the Bulldogs are already preparing hard for the upcoming Ivy League Round Robins, hosted at Harvard next weekend.

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Players Mentioned

Grace Baghdadi: Foil; Sophomore

Lauren Kim: Saber; Junior

Joy Ma: Epee; Sophomore

Michelle Nam: Epee; Senior

Camille Pham: Foil; Junior

Shirley Wang: Epee; Sophomore

Samantha Wood: Saber; Senior

Anna Zhou: Foil; Senior

Jenny Zhao: Foil; Senior

Emme Zhou: Foil; First Year

Julia Balch: Foil; First Year

Sophia Zhuang: Saber; First Year

Players Mentioned

Grace Baghdadi
: Sophomore
: Foil

Lauren Kim
: Junior
: Saber

Joy Ma
: Sophomore
: Epee

Michelle Nam
: Senior
: Epee

Camille Pham
: Junior
: Foil

Shirley Wang
: Sophomore
: Epee

Samantha Wood
: Senior
: Saber

Anna Zhou
: Senior
: Foil

Jenny Zhao
: Senior
: Foil

Emme Zhou
: First Year
: Foil

Julia Balch
: First Year
: Foil

Sophia Zhuang
: First Year
: Saber