This past Sunday, the women’s fencing team traveled to Vassar College for its first competition as a team, hoping to glean an accurate measure of its skill and training so far this season. Sunday’s bouts at Walker Field House, home of the Brewers, bode well for the Red. In eight matches, the Red responded with eight resounding victories. Under head coach Iryna Dolgikh, the Red defeated Vassar College, 24-3, Haverford, 23-4, Stevens Institute of Technology, 25-2, Drew, 25-2, Hunter, 24-3, Yeshiva, 25-2, CCNY, 25-2 and Sacred Heart University, 19-8.

Against every college, with the exception of SHU, the Red outscored its opponents in each individual weapon — foil, sabre and epee. As an added bonus, all 15 fencers who travelled to Vassar were given a chance to fence, providing invaluable experience to the newer members of the squad. Heel to toe, do-si-do: For the first time under head coach Iryna Dolgikh, the fencing team competed in the Vassar Invitational, trouncing all eight opponents.

In foil, Rebecca Hirschfield, Dana Baines and Analise Pellegi led the Red. Hirschfield, a sophomore, was the Red’s only undefeated fencer on Sunday, finishing 19-0 in her bouts. Senior Dana Baines was nearly perfect as well, finishing 20-1, while junior Peleggi ended the tournament 14-4.

“We trained really well for the competition,” Hirschfield said. “ We really went into it as a team. Everyone tried to give it their all and I think we did a really good job with that.”

The epee squad, led by seniors Tasha Hall, Catherine Thompson and Allie Dietrich, handled its opponents with ease as well. Hall finished with just one loss while Dietrich had three and Thompson ended with two.

The sabre squad, composed primarily of freshmen, returned after an impressive performance as well. Freshmen Audrey Speer and Beverly Yang, who were both recovering from flu and high fevers, finished 19-2 and 18-1 respectively. As a whole, the sabre squad has demonstrated considerable improvement from last year; new freshmen, including Speer and Yang, have contributed to this transformation.

“The sabre team is a very young team but showed very good unity. They all stayed together, supported each other, and helped each other,” Dolgikh said. “It’s very good to see from the freshmen girls.”

As a whole, the Red has demonstrated considerable improvement since the 2008-09 campaign. Last year, Cornell faced both Vassar and SHU, beating Vassar 19-8 and narrowly edging SHU 15-12. At this year’s Vassar Invitational, the Red beat Vassar 24-3 and finished 19-8 against Vassar.

The team was also especially impressed with its consistent performance in each match, despite fencing against eight different teams throughout the span of a single day.

“I think this tournament definitely showed that we’ve improved a lot,” Hall said. “ We’ve never had a result like this in the past … its pretty impressive to compete against eight schools, it really tested our stamina.”

In addition to stamina, the Red has improved the balance between its three weapons considerably. Last year, the Red relied heavily on foil and epee for points while sabre fell by the wayside. This year, the distribution between points has been closer to equilibrium, largely due to the strides made by the sabre squad.

“All squads showed good results, all 3 squads,” Dolgikh said. “That’s a good sign to me. Our program did very well in the system which we planned together with the girls.”

But while most teams might revel in victory, Dolgikh and the squad are already looking ahead to next month’s Brandeis Invitational.

“Brandeis is a much stronger tournament. Many good, strong teams will be there and we will compete,” he said.

Perhaps, in addition to intense practices and footwork preparation, foresight should be considered as a reason for the Red’s success. With an 8-0 start as a team, the Red certainly hasn’t been hurt by its extensive anticipation.