Perfection was the goal and perfection was the result as the Columbia men’s and women’s fencing teams captured Ivy championships on Sunday afternoon.

“It was a great showing for our teams,” head coach George Kolombatovich said after the victories. “We were absolutely dominating in the two days of the tournament and I’m very proud of this team for how they competed.”

The dual championships mark the first Columbia sweep of the Ancient Eight since the 2002-03 season. The Lion women finished 6-0 while the men finished 5-0 for the competition. The deciding bouts took place over the first weekend of fencing against an upstart Penn team that received its only defeats at the hands of Columbia. The highly anticipated matchup in round five against Harvard ended up in two routs for the Light Blue as the women won 17-10 and the men 18-9.

If there were any concerns heading into this season, it was how well the Lions’ four women freshmen would handle the jump to collegiate team competition. Those concerns were certainly alleviated on Sunday as all four—sabrist Jackie Jacobson, foilists Nicole Ross and Abby Caparros-Junto, and epeeist Martyna Urbanowicz—were first-team all-Ivy selections.

Of the 18 Columbia fencers that competed, 16 made either first or second-team All-Ivy. Based solely on individual records over the course of the tournament, three fencers qualify in each weapon for first-team honors and the next three-plus tie for the second-team. A more telling statistic of the Light Blue’s dominance was the fact that in all six disciplines—men’s and women’s sabre, men’s and women’s épeé, and men’s and women’s foil—the Lions took the top spot in all-Ivy selections.

“There is such a good combination of talent, youth, and seniority on this team,” Kolombatovich said. “It is really encouraging for our future to see such a young group do so well and the other Ivies realize that if we are this good now, how strong we might be in the future.”

While last year’s squad finished third in the nation at the NCAA championships, the team was plagued by injuries in post-Ivy competition. The team is currently healthy—its challenge for the seasons will be to remain in good health.

On Wednesday, Columbia will take on NYU, Sacred Heart, and Vassar at another meet. From there, it will look to the IFA Championships—an affiliate tournament of the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference—two weekends from now. The Light Blue’s ultimate goal in these matches is racking up points in the lead-up to the NCAA Regionals three weeks from now. These contests determine 60 percent of NCAA Championship qualification.

Still, Columbia knows the importance of bringing both Ivy titles back to Morningside Heights.

“After the Brown match, the entire team gathered in a big circle and started singing ‘Roar, Lion, Roar,’” Kolombatovich said. “I’m not sure how good our singing was, but more importantly we were in good voice.”