Men’s and women’s fencing went undefeated in their first home meet of the season in the Columbia Invitational, hosted in Dodge Fitness Center on Nov. 22.

The Lions replicated their excellent performance from the previous week, with both teams beating Stevens Institute of Technology, New Jersey Institute of Technology, and Johns Hopkins University by at least five bouts.

Columbia began the invitational by taking on Stevens in the first round. The men’s sabre team had a difficult start against the Ducks, dropping the first bout of the tournament with a nail-biting score of 5-4. They fired back with a decisive 5-0 win by junior Nick Harvey but could not recover, losing the next three bouts. In the sixth bout of the match, Harvey dominated with a swift 5-0 shutout. Nevertheless, the Lions could not recover and lost the match 5-4.

Despite the struggles of the sabre squad, the men’s foil team dominated Stevens, winning the first four bouts of the match. Stevens fought back, winning a tight 5-4 match against Columbia sophomore Xiao Enoch, but the Lions soon recovered, winning another three bouts of the match and securing their victory with a final score of 7-2.

The members of the men’s épée team continued their teammates’ momentum, securing an immediate victory in their matchup against Stevens by winning their first five consecutive bouts, two of which were won on time. The final score of the match came to 6-3.

The women’s sabre team also found success, winning the first four bouts of the match and dropping the fifth by only a single point. However, the members of the sabre squad didn’t let that phase them, winning the sixth bout and securing a victory, 7-2.

The women’s foil squad dominated in its matchup against Stevens, winning all nine of its bouts, including four shutouts. No Stevens foil fencer scored more than 2 points on the Lions.

The women’s épée team had similar results, winning its match 8-1, only dropping one bout against the Ducks. In the third bout of the match, first-year Claire Wang received a red card due to equipment failure, automatically giving her opponent a point. The match then went into overtime, which consisted of a one-minute period of sudden death, when Wang’s opponent would emerge victorious if time ran out. Wang was still able to secure a win.

Entering into the second round, the Lions faced off against New Jersey Institute of Technology.

The men’s sabre squad started off strong, winning their first four bouts and dropping the fifth with a close 5-4 score. The squad quickly bounced back from the defeat, winning the sixth matchup and securing victory. The match ended with a final score of 6-3 for the Lions.

The men’s foil team dominated New Jersey, winning all nine of their bouts. While the Lions were successful, senior Zach Binder struggled in the third bout, almost dropping with a tight score of 5-4.

The men’s épée team followed suit, sweeping all nine of their bouts against New Jersey. However, the Lions struggled toward the end of the match: First-year Luka Loncar defeated his opponent in overtime without priority in the eighth bout of the match, and senior Ethan Kushnerik received a yellow card.

The women’s sabre team also had a similar result against New Jersey: It won all nine of its bouts, including two back-to-back shutouts from senior Charlotte DePew and first-year Meagan Yao Co Say in the fifth and sixth bouts. New Jersey was unable to score more than two touches in any individual bout.

The women’s foil team continued to dominate the competition, winning all nine bouts for the second time in the invitational, complete with three shutouts. However, the Lions struggled more than they did against Stevens. Two bouts came to a close 5-4 final score, with junior Alexandra Jing winning in overtime in the sixth bout.

The women’s épée squad finished strong against New Jersey. Despite facing only two opponents, the Lions were able to adjust and secure a 7-2 victory. The épée squad had a difficult start as senior Audrey Chu won a tight 5-4 bout against New Jersey’s Gala Krsmanovic.

In the final bout of the invitational against Johns Hopkins, both the men’s and women’s squads had strong 19-8 records to clinch the victory. The men’s team won the matchups for all three weapons, with foil standing out with an 8-1 record.

The Xiao brothers, sophomore foil fencers Enoch and Ethan, both went undefeated to help solidify the 8-1 record. Sabre performed well with a 5-4 record, and the épée squad won with a 6-3 record, helped by the undefeated 3-0 performance from Loncar.

The women’s team matched the men’s record of 19-8. The épée squad dropped its bout 3-6 to Johns Hopkins. However, the sabre and foil squads made up for this loss with 8-1 records for both teams. On the winning sabre squad, junior Tamar Gordon had an undefeated record, while 3-0 records from foil fencers senior Vivian Zheng and sophomore Rachael Kim clinched the victory for the foil squad.

Men’s and women’s fencing will compete in their first meet of the new year against Princeton and Cornell in Princeton, New Jersey, on Jan. 14.