PASADENA, Calif. - The UC San Diego fencing team traveled to Cal Tech in Pasadena on Saturday, where they faced their NCAA West Region rivals. In what proved to be the hardest competition so far in the season, the men's team lost to Stanford, having just 6 victorious bouts to a total of 21 defeats. UCSD also fell to Air Force 11 to 16 on the men's side. The women's team lost to the Cardinal 8 to 19, but bounced back against the Falcons to post a 16 to 11 victory.  The Tritons will be back in action on January 10-11, hosting the Bladerunner Tournament, with a scheduled start time of 9:00 a.m.

The best performance of the day was turned in by the foil squads. The men foilists defeated Stanford 5 to 4 and Air Force 6 to 3. Ben Dorn and Armin Chan both had 4-2 records. Squad captain Dorn dropped his first two bouts against Stanford, but with the match tied at 4-4, fenced for a strong victory against the Cardinal's top fencer. The women's foil squad had a close 4 to 5 loss to Stanford, but turned in a commanding 8-1 victory against Air Force. Pilar Alicea and team captain Zitin Kachru each had 5-1 records for the day. The Tritons' women's sabre had the only other squad victory.   Women's sabre squad captain Samantha Rojales was 4-2, with her last win being the deciding bout for the victory against the Air Force squad.

The Triton fencers have found themselves in a rebuilding year due to graduations and other turnover. They have managed well against some other opponents, but the particularly strong Stanford team was too much to overcome. They will face both Stanford and Air Force again in the second half of the season when they meet at Notre Dame in February.

The Tritons will be back in action on January 10-11, hosting the Bladerunner Tournament, with a scheduled start time of 9:00 a.m.