Nov. 21, 2006

ITHACA, NY - The Johns Hopkins women's fencing team went 2-1 at the Cornell Invitational last weekend. Next up for the Blue Jays is the National Intercollegiate Women's Fencing Association (NIWFA) Christmas Tournament Sunday, December 3 at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Hopkins defeated Yeshiva 22-5 and Stevens Tech 15-12. Hopkins then fell 17-10 to host Cornell. Senior Sara Smilow (Smithtown, NY/Smithtown) went 8-1 in Sabre to lead the Blue Jays. Freshman Samantha Dolan (S. Pasadena, CA/S. Pasadena) also had a solid day, going 7-1 in Foil.

Despite the loss to Cornell overall, the Blue Jays did defeat the Big Red 5-4 in the Foil, paced by three wins by freshman Katie Kim (Garden City, NY/Garden City). Kim finished the day 6-3 overall in the Foil. Kim's third win set the tone, as Hopkins swept the last three, coming back from a 2-4 deficit at the start of the round to take Cornell 5-4.

"The last three wins against Cornell's Foil team came about by Hopkins tactical choices," said head coach James Murray. "We shut down the opponents to such a degree that they scored only three hits of a possible 15. The decisive bout was capped off by Grace Fried 5 to 0."