“The men did really well,” Mills said. “Yale [was] fencing really well—better than everybody expected.”

The women had an equally strong showing, dropping sabre, 5-4, but winning epée, 5-4, and dominating foil, 8-1. Sophomore Shelby MacLeod and senior Arielle Pensler, both foils, each went 3-0 in their bouts.

Finally, the women’s team faced the Big Red and won handily again. Harvard rode an 8-1 sabre victory and two 5-4 scores in the other categories to a total winning margin of 18-9.

Both the men’s and women’s sabre squads were consistently good in the tournament, and the men’s epée performance was formidable. Among the rest of the squads, performances were inconsistent at best.

“Maybe some of us got a bit too cocky,” Mills said. “Everyone could’ve fenced a little bit better.”

One notable fencer was sophomore sabre Caroline Vloka, who went a perfect 9-0 on the day.

“[Caroline] had a standout performance today,” Brand said. “She still needs to improve on a couple of things, but they’re fairly minor, and I anticipate that she will finish strong again.”

With these results, Harvard must sweep its opponents next weekend at Part II of the Ivies in order to share the Ivy League title. Facing a very strong Princeton team, Harvard will need an extraordinary performance from every fencer.

“We’re having a meeting tomorrow to impress on everybody that they need to fence their best,” Brand said. “Princeton is strong, but anybody still has a chance to come out on top. Everybody needs to pull their weight, and if they don’t, I will be very angry.”

Fortunately for Brand, the players echo his determination.

“We’re down one, but if we beat Columbia and Princeton we are all set,” Mills said. “We’re really going to have to step it up.”

—Staff writer Charlie Cabot can be reached at ccabot@college.harvard.edu.