The men’s and women’s fencing teams concluded their regular season with mixed results on Tuesday at Coles Sports Center.

The Violets faced some of their toughest competition of the season, hosting Division I schools Columbia University and Sacred Heart University and DIII Vassar College. Despite the challenge, the men’s team finished the day with a successful 2-1 overall record, while the women’s team ended with a 1-2 record.

Continuing their success from the Eric Sollee Invitational last week, the men’s squad got off to a quick start, beating Vassar by a close score of 15-12. The Violets then faced Sacred Heart, defeating the DI school by a very large 20-7 margin. But NYU could not score a victory against DI powerhouse Columbia, falling by a score of 19-8. Though they struggled against the Lions, men’s foil captain David Popkin was hopeful that they will best them next time.

“We had very decisive wins against Sacred Heart and Vassar, but had a tough time against Columbia,” Popkin said. “I’m really proud of my foil squad — they kept their focus up and fought hard. It’s a shame we didn’t beat Columbia, but I think we’ll be able to take them next time we fence them. We definitely weren’t outclassed.”

NYU had strong performances across the board, earning wins from all three weapons squads. Freshman Hans Engel and sophomores John Cramerus and Malcolm Lewis combined for a 14-10 record for the épée team, while sophomore Quinten Burgunder led the saber team with three wins.

The foil team, led by freshmen Phil Shin, Daniel Sconzo and Yash Srivastav, had the best showing. Shin and Sconzo finished 7-2 and 6-2, respectively, and Srivastav won all four of his bouts.

Freshman Jesse Gutierrez touched on the emotion of their last meet in Coles before its renovation.

“Yesterday’s meet was pretty emotional,” Gutierrez said. “It was not only the last meet of the season, but the last meet at Coles Gym. The senior awards at the reception was also a highlight. We got to thank our captains for not only being mentors, but friends. It’s hard to believe they won’t be fencing with us next year, but we’re grateful for everything they’ve done for us.”

After starting the season off poorly, the Violets displayed tremendous improvement over the course of the season. NYU went 7-2 over its last nine dual meets, and ended the year with a winning 11-10 record.

The women’s team did not end the season with as much success, but they had some strong performances from key fencers.

The Violets won their first match against Vassar 16-11, ending a five-bout losing streak. NYU then lost to both Sacred Heart and Columbia by identical 19-8 margins.

Freshman épée fencer Marissa Posner led NYU with a 5-2 record. Senior foil captain Audra Fox and sophomore saber fencer Cydney Williams followed, going 5-4 and 4-4, respectively.

The loss ends the Violets’ season with a 3-20 record.

Posner, however, believes that the team will grow in coming years.

“I think that today’s opponents were much harder than the Eric Sollee Invitational, mainly because of the Columbia fencers,” Posner said. “I feel the team recognized how far we have come and has been practicing extra hard to keep our success flowing.”

Now that their regular season is over, the fencing squad will look for some success in the postseason. They compete next over this weekend when they travel to the U.S. Junior National Olympics in Richmond, Virginia. They will then look to make some noise in NCAA regional and national championships.

A version of this article appeared in the Thursday, Feb. 12 print edition. Email Jonathan Schifman at [email protected].