PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The Wellesley College fencing team faced tough competition at the first Northeast Fencing Conference meet of the season, this weekend at Brown University. The Blue walked away with a win over UMass, but fell to five other schools, including a tight 14-13 loss to the University of New Hampshire.

Wellesley highlighted the day with a 16-11 victory over UMass, where the foil squad sealed the match with a commanding 8-1 victory. The Blue were close in each of the other weapon squad bouts, falling just 5-4 in both epee and sabre. 

In the tight 14-13 loss to UNH, Wellesley came away with a 6-3 win in sabre, but fell 5-4 in foil and 7-2 in epee.

Wellesley was dealt four other losses on the day, falling to Brown (23-4), Brandeis (17-10), MIT (22-5) and Sacred Heart (26-1). Against Brandeis and MIT, the Blue's foil squad nearly came away with wins, but suffered matching 5-4 loss. 

Individually, first-years Jessica Guo and Pamela Wang both picked up 10 wins at the event, competing in foil. Senior Dania Wright led the sabre squad with eight wins on the day, while junior Kathryn Ledbetter nabbed seven wins in epee. Rounding out the individual highlights, sophomore Charlotte Treadwell picked up five epee wins, while first-year Alice Xu recorded four sabre wins.

This weekend's event marked the end of the 2013 portion of the Wellesley fencing schedule. The team will return to action after the new year, first competing on January 22nd at Brandeis at 7:00pm.