Last year, the women’s team suffered a string of unfortunate injuries that debilitated their Ivy League Championship hopes. Following a high-powered 2027 recruiting class, the team has replenished their losses and returned better than ever.

Alexa Drovetsky ’27, a first-year épée fencer, appeared ecstatic upon her late-night return to New Haven.

“Last year we sputtered because we had to forfeit almost half of our bouts near the end of the season,” Drovetsky said. “But this is one of the best women’s teams we’ve had in recent years — the Class of 2027 is simply incredible.” 

Under head coach Marat Israelian’s instruction, the team continues to forge a tight-knit culture. According to Stephanie Cao ’25, teammates invest a genuine interest in each other’s lives, molding a family inside and outside of practices and game settings.

The fencing family can be traced back to the introduction of ‘Captain’s Practice’ during the beginning of the 2023-24 season. These organized venues placed a higher emphasis on constructing camaraderie and unity within the team dynamic. Clear leadership would serve a critical role in guiding the team through the triumphs and disappointments of the arduous season.

The fruits of their commitment were clearly displayed at the Vassar Open Invitational. 

Cao, a prominent saber on the women’s team, captured the weekend’s successes in three simple words. “We killed it,” she told the News.

The Women’s team competed against Vassar College, Hunter College, Stevens Institute of Technology, Wellesley College, Johns Hopkins University, Tufts University and Drew University. They suffered only one loss, falling 14–13 to the highly-ranked Cornell Bears. 

The tight loss is no cause for alarm, but rather a fountain of hope for team morale. 

Drovetsky, who has fenced Cornell competitors through several international tournaments, knew what to expect as she stepped on the piste. While the match did not turn in Yale’s direction, Drovetsky did not fret about the underdogs’ return to glory.

“We’re not even in the coaches’ ranking system, so we are the underdogs going into this year,” she said to the News. “Next time a bout is going to flip in our direction and we’ll take down Cornell.”

The Men’s team staged an equally valiant effort. They won each of their matches with relative ease.

Max Deisboeck ’27, a walk-on saber fencer, emphasized the importance of the tournament in cultivating team confidence. They proved to themselves and their competition that they are a force to be reckoned with in the Ivy League. 

Deisboeck’s seamless integration into the team culture is a testament to the fencing family. Teammates treat Deisboeck with fairness and respect, no differently than his recruited counterparts. 

“Coach Marat is trying to instill a disciplined and dedicated regimen to the team—coming to practice early and on time, putting 110 percent effort into practice, and making sure that effort comes out in the tournaments,” he told the News. “As a walk-on, I’m trying to prove to my teammates that I possess the same discipline, commitment and intangibles as everyone else.”

The fencing team awaits prominent tournaments at Penn State and other Ivy League institutions. They are equipped with the mental, physical and social tools to defy expectations and wreak havoc among America’s top-tier fencing programs.

The men’s and women’s fencing teams are set to face Brandeis on Sunday, Dec. 3, in Waltham, Mass.

The post FENCING: Yale secures resounding victory at Vassar Open Invitational appeared first on Yale Daily News.

“Ever since my freshman year, the atmosphere of the fencing team has always been so inclusive,” Tan said. “We have fencers who come from all different backgrounds, and we strive to converse about our differences. As a very small and tight-knit team, we do a great job at making sure everyone is comfortable around teammates whether it’s during practice, at tournaments, or even outside of athletics.”

Tan, a Texas native, first discovered the sport when she saw a fencing flyer at her local library. 

As a high school fencer, she was a 2019 USA Cadet World Team Alternate, member of USA Designated Cadet and Junior International Foil Team, silver medalist in the Junior event at the 2021 May North American Cup and silver medalist in the junior event at 2020 Junior Olympics, among many other accolades. 

“I fell in love with the sport and decided that I wanted to fence in college to further my fencing career.” Tan said. “There were a lot of fencers who were older than me who told me how being on a fencing team in college was one of the best decisions they made, so I was very enthusiastic about fencing in college from the start.”

Because her parents immigrated from China to America before she was born, Tan wanted to be the person that pushed herself in school and in fencing, she said. Tan emphasized that her parents never pushed her to do this, but she just felt that she wanted to on her own. 

“Seeing how my parents worked so hard for our family, it definitely motivated me to work just as hard as them,” she said.

At Yale, Tan has continued earning honors as she recently qualified for the NCAA championships this year, helping the Bulldogs finish in 10th place overall. Additionally, she was selected for the United States Fencing Coaches Association All-Northeast Region team, alongside five other teammates. 

That group includes Zhou, another foilist who has attributed some degree of her success to her Chinese roots back home. Zhou’s career began in a Chinese after-school fencing program in Boston when she was nine, and she has continued with the sport for the last 12 years. 

Zhou’s coach in Boston is also Chinese and was able to provide her with the opportunity to train with the national teams in China — both in Shanghai and Jiangsu — during her high school summers. 

“Although these training camps were tough and had long hours, I learned how to be disciplined and hardworking,” Zhou said. “I think that’s one of the most important parts of being a student athlete.”

This training allowed her to earn Team Gold in the 2018 Junior World Cup, eighth place individually in the 2018 Junior World Cup, eighth in the 2017 International Cadet Designated Circuit and a Team Gold in the 2016 Cadet World Cup. 

Zhou qualified to the NCAA Championships this year, placing twelfth overall in the foil event and also being named to the United States Fencing Coaches Association All-Northeast Region team. 

Zhou’s success does not stop on the piste, as she might be more well-known for her presence on TikTok. Zhou has amassed 736.7K followers and 46.0M likes on her TikTok account @emmezhou. The page mostly features “What I Eat in a Day at Yale” videos, where she reviews dining halls and shows the world what meals are like at an Ivy League university. 

Just recently, she began sharing the fencing side of her life to her large audience.

“I love making videos about fencing because so many people do not know what it is, and have many misconceptions about it,” she said. “I think fencing is something that most of my followers did not know I do at Yale, so I enjoy sharing this new part of my life with them.”

Comments such as, “more fencing videos please!” and “I want to go to Yale through fencing too,” show just how much influence her videos have over her mostly younger audience. 

Zhou’s TikToks provide a window into the team for many. One key dynamic that both Zhou and Tan highlighted was the overall welcoming vibe and inclusivity of the fencing team, making it very easy for them to embrace their Pan-Asian identities on the team. 

“Fencing is a very inclusive sport, so as a pan-Asian fencer, I’ve felt very at home” said Tan.  “Over the past few years, there have been a lot of Pan-Asian Americans involved with fencing, so over the next few years, I believe that fencing will be a sport that will be very big within the Asian community.”

Although Zhou is graduating, Tan hopes to help the fencing team finish among the top three at Ivies next year – a goal that was unattainable this year due to a variety of injuries. 

Emme Zhou ’23 was named an All-American in women’s foil in March 2022.

The post Chinese American foil fencers Emme Zhou ’23 and Helen Tan ’25 reflect on their time at Yale appeared first on Yale Daily News.

The annual men’s and women’s Ivy League Round Robins tournament — when Yale faces Columbia University, Princeton University, Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, Brown University and Cornell University back-to-back over a two-day period — saw the Eli men place last amongst all five competing teams and the women’s team also place last out of all seven competing Ivies. The women’s team, in particular, was competing at a disadvantage since three of their competing members were injured. 

“I think the performance was lackluster because I see the potential for us to win as a team,” said Jack Pan ’26, who competes in saber. “The best part of the Round Robins was supporting each other. Our women’s team was short of many starters due to extreme health accidents, and it was great to see us be there for one another.”

The women’s team was missing three starters: foil Emme Zhou ’23, epee Christina Zozulya ’24 and epee Amanda O’Donnell ’26. Zhou and Zozulya are suffering fencing-related injuries of a dislocated shoulder and knee injury, respectively. O’Donnell, on the other hand, was hit by a car on campus last week, breaking her hand and nose.

According to fellow teammate Julia Balch ’23, O’Donnell is bruised up but overall “okay.” Balch is regularly a foil fencer but stepped in to replace O’Donnell by fencing epee all weekend. 

“It was very difficult to fill in, especially on such short notice. But it was definitely a learning experience for me,” Balch said. 

She will be training epee this week to be prepared to compete in the event against Vassar on Feb. 22. Despite placing last, the women’s team had some strong rounds against Princeton, ultimately losing 15-12 against the top-ranked Tigers, 19-8 to Harvard and 14-13 to Brown. 

At the end of the first day, Helen Tan ’25 was in a three-way tie for second place in foil. However, by the end of the rounds on Sunday, Tan tied for sixth in foil, while Erica Hooshi ’25 and Annie Lin ’24 tied for 12th in the same event. Tan, as well as Pan and Sydney Hirsch ’23 received All-Ivy honors for their individual performances. 

The missing competitors skewed the team’s results. 

“We didn’t haven’t all of our fencers here, so it was very hard to keep up and make up for those not here. This didn’t stop our motivation and energy, though,” Hooshi said. 

Zozulya and O’Donnell will likely be out for the rest of the season, but the team is hopeful that Zhou will have a healed shoulder in time for the NCAA Northeast regionals.

On the men’s side, Pan placed fifth individually in the saber event. The men struggled throughout the tournament, falling 20–1 to Columbia, 18–9 to Princeton and 21-6 to Harvard on opening day. The day after, the male fencers took another hit and lost to Penn by 14-13.  

However, according to Pan, the team “identified the problems that need to be fixed for a successful season next school year, which is what is most important at the end of the day.”

Pan will be competing at the Senior World Cup in Padua, Italy prior to the NCAA Northeastern Regionals and Championship as he is an internationally competing fencer. He will be training both in Payne Whitney and two hours away in Manhattan to prepare for all of his upcoming meets. 

In general, though, he wanted to thank his team for “standing tall” despite their recent unfortunate circumstances. 

“We went through a lot over the past month leading up to Ivies with three back-to-back competitions and unfortunate injuries. Despite all this, we really gave it all we had on the strip and left with no regrets,” said Tan.

The team will “heal up” and “regroup,” said Tan, as they head into the end of the season regardless of recent setbacks. 

With Balch competing in epee and Pan fresh out of the Senior World Cup, the men’s and women’s fencing teams are slated to compete at the NCAA Regionals on March 11 in Haverford.

The post FENCING: Injuries leave fencers susceptible at Ivies appeared first on Yale Daily News.

Both the men’s and women’s fencing teams won decisive victories against fellow Connecticut school Sacred Heart. The men’s squad recorded a 19–8 win, winning all nine bouts in the epee. The women’s team likewise dominated their face-off, winning 20–7. 

Following Saturday’s victories, the Bulldogs then faced off at the Tri-State Shark Showcase in Brooklyn on Sunday in the final regular season meet of the season. The men’s team posted three victories, while the women’s squad finished their season on a high with a victory against Hunter College in their last regular season bout of the season.

“It was nice to see all of the senior’s friends spectating and cheering us on, even if some of them didn’t know what was going on [or] how to follow fencing,” foil Erica Hooshi ’25 wrote to the News. “We always spend so much time with just the fencing team, we forget that the seniors and all of us have such a supportive community here at Yale.”

The women’s fencing team finished the season with a 16–7 record. In a dominant outing against Sacred Heart, the Bulldogs swept nine foil bouts and dropped a solitary epee match-up, coming away with eight decisions in their favor. 

Aside from their victory against Hunter College at Shark Showcase, the Bulldogs dropped bouts against Ivy League rivals Princeton University (18–9), Columbia University (24–3) and the University of Pennsylvania (19–8), as well as against both St. John’s University and hosts Long Island University.

“It felt great to compete in front of my friends at the Yale Invitational,” foil fencer Olivia Ren ’26 told the News. “They had never seen me fence before, so I’m so glad that I had the opportunity to show them my sport. Also, everyone supporting and cheering made the meet super fun and exciting.”

The men’s squad came away from the Shark Showcase with three victories, including over Penn (15–12) and Long Island University (22–5). The highlight of the night was a clean sweep of Hunter, where the Bulldogs won every bout in each of epee, foil and saber.

At the Yale Invitational, the Bulldogs honored seven seniors, including Jonah Cho ’23, Allan Ding ’24, Andre Papasavas ’23 and Maxwell Yee ’23 from the men’s squad. Julia Balch ’23, Sydney Hirsch ’24 and Linda Liu ’23 were honored on the women’s squad. 

“It was a really good warmup before Ivies next weekend and really brought to light some things that we need to work on,” fencer Helen Tan ’25 told the News. “I’m super excited for Ivies because I know that we will take everything we’ve experienced this season and fence our best next weekend.”

Next up, the Bulldogs will compete at the Ivy League Round Robin at Cornell University from Feb. 11 to 12.

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Internationally-competing athletes such as Whelan, Tan and Pan have to manage constant long hours of travel in tandem with academic deadlines and collegiate-level practices. The fencing team at Yale has competed at two events so far this semester — the Penn State Invitational and Philadelphia Invitational — with the Yale Invitational on the horizon next weekend.

“I still compete internationally because I am proud to represent my country, and I have goals that reach beyond fencing in college,” Whelan said. “I have a shot at the Olympics down the road, and I am continuing to explore that option.”

Whelan competes on the national circuit at the North American Cup and on the world circuit in the 20-and-under category. Simultaneously, he is pursuing his education at Yale and preparing to represent the Bulldogs in NCAA fencing competition. 

Although a lot of hard work goes into preparing for the NCAAs, Whelan finds himself putting in extra hours of training to “stay sharp” for the international competitions as well. Balancing his time at an Ivy League university has not been easy. 

As an architecture major, Whelan told the News that he finds himself with “very little free time.”

“Last semester, I was at a World Cup in Greece during finals and had to ABX them,” he recalled. 

Because the collegiate fencing season is ramping up, Whelan is unsure if he will be able to make it to the two fencing World Cups in February. In November 2022, he helped lead Team USA to a gold medal at the World Cup in Riga, Latvia. Whelan had a prominent influence on the gold medal win over Estonia because he had the highest point differential on the team. This was the first time the Junior Men’s Epee Team had won a World Cup since 2019. 

Nevertheless, Whelan loves the support from his collegiate team because “everyone is focused on having a positive impact and helping each other improve,” he said. 

On the women’s side, Tan, a Texas native, has competed in many national competitions and World Cups in the past couple of years. This year, however, she is focusing her time on collegiate fencing. 

“Being an international fencer, athlete for Yale and student is a lot to juggle at the same time, but just as rewarding,” she said. “I was able to travel to so many cities, so I was really having fun while I was competing.”

Tan attributes time management and organization as the skills that keep her going as an internationally competitive student-athlete. 

Last year, when she competed internationally, she had trouble with the sheer amount of travel needed for these meets. Most of her events took place in Europe, so the jet lag disrupted her daily schedule upon returning to Yale, she explained. 

Tan was a 2019 USA Cadet World Team alternate and a USA Designated Cadet and Junior International Foil team member. In addition, she took the silver medal in the Junior event at the 2021 May North American Cup and at the 2020 Junior Olympics. On top of this, she was a gold medalist for the Junior team at the 2019 Pan American Championships. 

“Last year I competed internationally because I wanted to continue to fence on the national and international circuit, something that I’ve been doing ever since middle school,” she said. 

Jack Pan ’26 has also flown abroad multiple times to represent the Canadian national team. He has competed at the North American Champions, the Junior World Cup in Dormagen, Germany, and the Senior World Cup in Madrid.

“For me, traveling and competing has become a core part of my lifestyle,” Pan said. “Ever since picking up the sport of fencing, I’ve always looked forward to the next destination where I would challenge myself and others.”

He still competes internationally because it has become an “essential” part of his life, he said. “I want to compare my skill set to competitors that are at the top of their country. Not just other schools domestically.”

Both Whelan and Tan will be competing for Yale at the Yale Invitational this weekend and later at the Ivy League Round Robin event in Ithaca.

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The women’s fencing team shined at the meet, securing a victory against defending NCAA champions the University of Notre Dame. Their wins against New York University, Temple University and Wayne State University, and a solitary blemish versus Northwestern University in the last bout of the day, rounded out the team’s 4–1 record. On the other hand, the men’s team faced tough competition at the meet, but still came away with an impressive victory in their bout against Wayne State.

“This was the most ‘hype’ we’ve been for a meet, and bringing that energy onto the strip really allowed us to fight for our wins,” saber Stephanie Cao ’25 told the News. “I’m really proud of all of us and how much we can support and depend on each other.”

The women’s fencing team now holds a 14–2 overall record for the season. Barring two close bouts, the Bulldogs dominated their competition, defeating NYU 23–4, Temple 16–11 and Wayne State 24–3. Northwestern and Notre Dame provided tough competition, with both bouts being decided by a singular point. While Yale edged out Notre Dame, they came up short against Northwestern.

Fencers Emme Zhou ’23 and Cao went undefeated throughout the meet, winning each of their three bouts in foil and saber respectively. Zhou earned All-American last year at the NCAA Championships.

The weekend before, the Bulldogs posted a 4–1 record at the Penn State Invitational, with victories over Penn State University, Haverford College, the University of North Carolina and Temple University.

“We had just come out of winter training so everyone was really excited to fence on the strip [at the Penn State Invitational],” Helen Tan ’25 wrote to the News. “We have more competitions these next few weekends before heading into Ivies so I think everyone is doing a great job at preparing for Championships.”

Rookie foil fencer Olivia Ren ’26 underlined the continued support she has received from her teammates, explaining that she now had “a bunch of sisters” she could rely on. 

She is one of three new members on the women’s team this year, alongside saber Nithya Guthikonda ’26 and epee Amanda O’Donnell ’26. 

“I am so proud of our team! Everyone brought so much energy both on and off the strip, and we fought for every touch,” Ren wrote to the News. “We’ve been training so hard for this, and I think it really paid off, especially when we defeated Notre Dame!”

The men’s squad was unlucky in two competitive bouts with NYU and Ohio State University, losing both by 16–11. A highlight from the weekend was their 17–10 victory against Wayne State, in which the team won each weapon. 

Next weekend, the Bulldogs will host Sacred Heart University and Vassar College in New Haven in the Yale Invitational.

“[The Yale Invitational] is really exciting,” Cao told the News. “I can’t wait for our friends to be able to come and watch.”

The Yale Invitational will take place at the Payne Whitney Gymnasium.

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The Bulldogs competed at their first team competition of the season at the Brandeis Invitational last Sunday. The women’s fencing team finished with a perfect record, convincingly winning each of their six matchups by an average margin of 15. Ranked No. 11 in the nation, the men’s fencing team also impressed in their four bouts, winning against the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, St. John’s University and host Brandeis University.

“Honestly I think we all did really amazing,” saber Stephanie Cao ’25 told the News. “We were all giving 110 percent on the strip and it paid off, plus it was really wholesome to see us get so hype together.”

The women’s fencing team displayed their NCAA Tournament ambitions for the season with a dominant performance in Boston. The Blue and White hope to better last season’s ninth place finish at the NCAA Championship. 

Entering the meet ranked 11 nationally, the Bulldogs posted some big wins, beating both No. 13 St. John’s and beating the meet’s host Brandeis on their home pitch.

“It was so nice to see all of our hard work pay off … [and to] hear so many cheers from my teammates when I was fencing,” said Helen Tan ’25. “We’re continuing to keep [our effort] up as the season progresses. I’m looking forward to competing and can’t wait to travel with this amazing group of people!”

The women’s fencing team also made use of the occasion of the season’s first team competition to introduce the rookies to the team cheer. 

The three debutantes across all three weapons were saber Nithya Guthikonda ’26, epee Amanda O’Donnell ’26 and foil Olivia Ren ’26. 

“I’m so proud of our first years,” said Tan. “They did so well and are easily some of the people that are most ready for the season ahead of us.”

The men’s fencing team saw similar success in their four bouts, with their sole defeat coming at the hands of Boston College.

Each bout at the meet consisted of three rounds, with nine match-ups in each of sabre, foil and epee.

The Bulldogs won three close bouts against MIT, Brandeis and St. John’s. Each bout was separated by a score less than five. The team entered the third and final round of each bout with a deficit but still managed to come away with come-from-behind victories.

“The major highlight was the men’s victory against St. John’s, the strongest opposition there,” said Cameron Greene ’24. “Down 13-10 with 4 bouts to go, we won all 4 on demand, with Ted [Vinnitchouk ’24] securing the 14-13 victory. Everyone went crazy.”

The Bulldogs are now off from competition until the Penn State Invitational on Jan. 15.

Following the Penn State Invitational, they will be squaring off again in Pennsylvania at the Philadelphia Invitational at Penn, before hosting the Yale Invitational on Jan. 28.

“We definitely have established a strong beginning for our season,” said Cao. “We just have to keep working hard and bring the same if not more energy to the next meet.”

The women’s team was ranked No. 12 in the end-of-season coaches’ poll in 2022.

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The women’s team secured six top-five finishes, with at least one in each of the three weapons. On the other hand, six members of the men’s squad finished in the top ten. Sydney Hirsch ’24 was the best finisher for the women’s team with second place in saber while Vinni Yu ’26 earned the men’s squad’s best result with fifth place in foil. 

The women’s team filled three of the top five spots in foil. The meet took place over two days, with the women’s team competing on Saturday and the men’s team competing on Sunday. 

“The meet went really well — it definitely showed that we were prepared and ready through our preseason and in season training leading up to the meet,” Stephanie Cao ’25 wrote to the News. “It was really great seeing everyone so supportive, mens and womens team, and cheering and helping each other, and now we definitely know what to work on and improve on before our next meet.”

Foil fencer Erica Hooshi ’25 underlined the effort the team has been putting in throughout the lead-up to the season, both individually and together. She added that she was confident in their ability to improve from last season when they finished ninth at the NCAA Championship.

Although hosts Penn State swept the first positions for all weapons in the women’s competition, the Bulldogs followed closely behind by joining them on the podium in each event. 

Along with Hirsch, Linda Liu ’23 secured third place in epee, while Emme Zhou ’23 and Helen Tan ’25 shared third in foil. Olivia Ren ’26 missed the podium but followed her two squadmates in fifth place.

“I’m really thrilled about this result — I think it was a great way to enter the season and a great start for establishing a competition mentality for our meets to come,” wrote Hirsch to the News. “Preseason training definitely paid off! I felt physically strong coming into this meet and I felt as if the team was already really tight-knit and supporting each other, which is invaluable.”

The epee fencers on the men’s team  secured three spots in the top ten of the event. Ted Vinnitchouk ’24 and Tony Whelan ’26 finished neck and neck in seventh and eighth place respectively, while Sartaj Rajpal ’25 rounded out the Bulldogs’ excellent display with tenth place.  

In men’s foil, Allan Ding ’24 closely followed top finisher Yu with a sixth place finish. Men’s team captain Victor Osoliniec ’24 finished tenth in saber.

“It was a pre-season meet so the team had an opportunity to see if what they have been working on … was working and what they had to improve on,” said Vinnitchouk. “This is the first real season since the pandemic so everybody is excited to pick up where they left off in 2020.”

Members from both the men’s and women’s fencing teams emphasized the camaraderie on display between the two teams over the weekend.

Hooshi explained that although only the women’s teams competed on Saturday, the men’s team showed up to cheer for them at 7:30 a.m. The women’s team returned the gesture on Sunday when the men’s competition took place.

“We’re definitely very tightly knit — everyone is friends with everyone,” said Rajpal. “We always support each other, whether that be at practice or at meets … The team is coming together really nicely.”

The Bulldogs begin their competitive season on Dec. 4 at the Brandeis Invitational.

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Two-time NCAA epee champion Israelian held the position of interim coach for seven months before it was announced that he was promoted to the position full-time through a Yale Athletics press release. Israelian first interacted with the Yale fencing squads in 2018 and joined the coaching staff as an assistant coach in 2019. After the abrupt dismissal of head coach Haibin Wang in 2021, Israelian was named interim head coach a month before the fencing team began competition. Israelian is now the third head of the fencing program in four years. 

“I basically [hunkered] down and just tried to focus on what I have to do, and tried to not mess this up,” Israelian said. “I try to do the best I can to … promote the team because there’s a lot of things I had to learn right away. I started two weeks before the season started so everything was new to me. It was important for me [that the] team did not feel like they did not have my support, or I did not know what I was doing or if they were … in limbo with regards to leadership.”

Israelian — a 2005 European Championship finalist — graduated from St. John’s University in 2013 where he had won the NCAA epee championship in 2010 and 2011. After graduation, he coached youth teams in New England and was named New Jersey High School Coach of the Year.

Ahead of the 2018 Ivy League Round Robins, Israelian was asked by epeeists at Yale for assistance and volunteered for the Bulldogs as a strip coach.

“It was actually circumstantial,” Israelian said. “The team itself reached out. The epee squad knew who I was, knew I was working around the area. They reached out personally because they needed help specifically in that competition, but generally, they needed help with the epee squad.”

Israelian would return in 2019 as an assistant coach and help the team in a season where Yale placed ninth at the 2019 national championships. After the surprise termination of Henry Harutunian in April of 2019 and the sudden 2021 dismissal of Wang, Israelian was named interim head coach.

In the Blue and White’s return to the NCAA Championships in 2022, they placed ninth again. This result is on par with the team’s 2019 finish, tied for the second-best result the Elis have achieved in the last 15 national championships they competed in.

Zhou, who was strip coached by assistant coach Sean McClain, described how Israelian “really helped [her] through the toughest matches” at this year’s national championships. The All-American also noted Israelian’s passion and investment in the team’s well-being since her first interactions with him five years ago. 

“It was truly so difficult for our team to continue to perform at a consistent high level that we have been these past couple of years due to all of the coach switches,” Zhou said. “I am excited that Coach Israelian is no longer in the interim position because we can now finally set long-term goals and [start] preparing earlier and more efficiently.”

Israelian describes Zhou’s All-American title as a career highlight while also noting the consistency of the women’s foil squad. Other top moments included the qualification of seven Bulldogs for nationals and 10 Yalies — seven women and three men — for the All-Regionals distinction. 

Despite the historic team finish, Israelian noted several difficulties during his first season at the helm, with the team having to tackle travel logistics, the pandemic and Israelian himself wrangling with the unfamiliarity with the responsibilities of the position. However, he cited the support of many within Yale Athletics as meaningful, noting that Deputy Athletic Director Ann-Marie Guglieri and Yale Athletics Fencing Supervisor Megan Lupini consistently helped with his transition into the role. The University admissions office, accounting office and other members outside of the coaching department were also sources of understanding and patience.

“I am thrilled that Marat will be leading our fencing programs as our next head coach,” Athletics Director Vicky Chun wrote in a statement to the News. “His proven leadership and commitment to the student-athlete experience has and will continue to take Yale fencing to the highest level of excellence.”

Ahead of recruitment season, Israelian traveled to numerous youth competitions to represent the Yale fencing program and anticipates further developing the recruitment process during his tenure. Despite uncertainties on whether he would continue in the role prior to his promotion, he advocated for the Blue and White’s program to ensure it would continue recruiting strong fencers.

Moving forward, Israelian aims for improved results.

“We should strive for much more,” Israelian said. “We’re trying to be the best so even if we’re better than we’ve been before, if we were 20th and now we’re 10th, we’re still not there.”

The fencing season finished the weekend of March 20 at the 2022 NCAA Championships in South Bend, Indiana. 

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Notre Dame hosted the national tournament in South Bend, Indiana on Saturday, March 26 and Sunday, March 27. This competition marked Yale’s return to the fencing national championships after a hiatus since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Seven Bulldogs across both the men’s and women’s squads qualified after the team earned six top-10 finishes at NCAA Northeast Regionals on Sunday, March 13. Three Bulldogs earned top-15 finishes at NCAA Championships, including Zhou who earned the Bulldogs’ best result by placing eighth in women’s foil.

“Finishing ninth nationally with one All-American is a good ending to a very difficult season,” interim head coach Marat Israelian wrote. “I’m proud of the team for fighting with top Division I programs and not [shying] away from the challenge and beating out schools that qualified more people than us, but I [am] mainly proud of the team for being there for each other [throughout] the year, at NCAA [Championships] and Regionals especially.”

While Notre Dame clinched its second consecutive championship with 189 total team points, Yale finished with 67 total points to place ninth in a field of 27 teams. Out of the Ivies present, Yale placed fifth ahead of 14th place Cornell and 24th place Brown. 

Winning 15 out of her 23 matches, Zhou earned her second All-American selection in women’s foil after first getting the distinction in 2020. 

“It was a really long tournament with a lot of tough matches,” Zhou wrote. “I want to thank my teammates, family, and coaches for always cheering me on and supporting me throughout the two days. Big thank you to Coach Israelian and administration particularly, who were able to provide effective training plans and guide our program through this difficult season. Overall, I’m honored to have represented Yale on the podium!”

Maxwell Yee ’23 described Zhou’s second All-American title as his “absolute favorite moment of the competition.” Sydney Hirsch ’24 clinched Yale’s second top-fifteen finish of the tournament after winning 11 matches in women’s saber to place 14th.

Yale’s third top-15 finish came from Earnest Chen ’22, who capped off his last year representing Yale by placing 15th in men’s foil. 

“I am grateful that I get to qualify for national championships once again as a senior,” Chen said. “It’s exciting to fence and meet new competitors but I am also filled with nostalgia knowing that this will be my final competition as a Bulldog.”

Chen was joined in his second nationals competition by fellow foil competitor Yee in the men’s field. Rounding out the Blue and White’s men’s delegation, Safi Haider ’22 earned 20th in men’s épée with 76 touches scored.

Yee finished right behind Chen in 16th place, and both teammates noted the significance of having a fellow Bulldog in their event. Yee described it as both comforting and sad given Chen’s departure. 

“Having another teammate competing is always a huge plus,” Chen said. “We both support each other the whole way which helps keep up motivation and morale. I definitely performed better when I am competing with another Bulldog. Unfortunately, we couldn’t qualify more members of Yale to fence at NCAA Championships, but the seven of us who did really came together and helped each other perform our best.”

The Bulldogs had two representatives in women’s foil: Zhou and rookie Helen Tan ’25, who finished 17th with eight wins. Rookie Stephanie Cao ’25 competed in women’s foil with Hirsch and finished 21st. Hirsch echoed Yee and Chen’s sentiments about competing with a fellow Bulldog in the same event. 

“This competition format was neat because Stephanie and I got to travel together as a ‘pod’ as we competed,” Hirsch said. “This means that we got to watch every bout the other person fenced and thus cheer each other on the whole time. We were also able to give each other advice in addition to our coach’s input. Having that built-in support at such a challenging competition was really incredible.” 

Hirsch took a year off to maintain her fencing eligibility and hopes to return to nationals next year after missing out her first year in 2020 when the competition was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year’s result tied for the second-best out of the last 15 national competitions that the Bulldogs competed in. 

While rookies Ted Vinnitchouk ’24 and Erica Hooshi ’25 did not compete in nationals, they traveled with the team to Indiana. Vinnitchouk echoed Israelian’s sentiments of a stronger return next year. 

“It was an interesting experience watching my teammates compete and it inspired me to work harder for next year so that hopefully we could move up the rankings,” Ted Vinnitchouk ’24 said. “I have full confidence in our coaching staff and student-athletes that we will come back stronger next year.” 

While the 2020 NCAA Fencing Championships did not occur, the United States Fencing Coaches Association still selected NCAA Fencing All-American teams.

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