Here are some preview notes for today's Ivy League Round-Robin matches (12 total, with nine more in two weeks at Providence). The blog also will include a rundown of top fencers at this event, to be posted shortly:
• Columbia swept both the men's and women's Ivy League titles in 2008, after also winning both in 2007 (the Columbia men actually shared the '07 title with Harvard). Harvard won both the men's and women's Ivy League titles in 2006.
• The final men's standings in 2008 were: Columbia (5-0), Penn (4-1), Harvard (3-2), Princeton (2-3), Yale (1-4) and Brown (0-5) … the Columbia women swept all their matches (6-0), followed by Penn (5-1), Brown (3-3), Harvard (3-3), Princeton (2-4), Cornell (2-4) and Yale (0-6) … the Brown women's impressive third-place tie included wins over Princeton (16-11) and Harvard (14-13).
• COLUMBIA – both teams have fenced only eight dual meets this season (on the same weekend, at the St. John's Invitational and NYU Duals), with the 3rd-ranked men compiling only two wins (vs. six losses) while the #3 Columbia women are 6-2 … the Columbia men own wins over Wayne Syaye and Stevens Tech (both 18-9), while losing twice to co-#1 Notre Dame (10-17, 12-15), #3 Ohio State (9-18, 10-17) and #9 St. John's (9-18, 13-14) … the Lions women own two wins over #3 OSU (17-10, 15-12), along with splits against #2 ND (9-18, 14-13) and SJU (20-7, 12-15), plus wins over #6 Northwestern (16-11) and Wayne State (26-1).
• HARVARD – The #5-ranked Crimson women have compiled a 14-1 record, with key wins over #3 OSU (15-12), #7 Princeton (17-10), #10 Duke (18-9) and St. John's (18-9) … the #7 Harvard men own an 8-5 record, with a 15-12 win over #10 Duke and losses to #3 OSU (10-17), #5 Princceton (13-14) and #9 SJU (13-14).
• PRINCETON – The #5 Tigers men sport a 14-1 record, with the only loss coming to co-#1 Penn State (10-17, at Vassar) … Princeton's men have defeated #7 Harvard (14-13), #10 Duke (17-10) and North Carolina (19-8) … the #7 Princeton women (12-4) own a top win over #10 Duke (20-7), but they have lost to #1 PSU, #5 Harvard (10-17) and #8 Temple twice.
• PENNSYLVANIA – The #6 Penn men own a 12-0 record that includes wins over co-E1 Penn State (17-10), co-#10 teams Duke (19-8) and North Carolina (18-9) … the #9 Quakers women are 11-2, with noteworth wins over #8 Temple (18-9), #10 Duke (19-8) and UNC (21-6), plus losses to #1 PSU (6-21) and #6 Northwestern (12-15).
• YALE – The Bulldogs men (10-3) own a top win over St. John's (15-12, at the Brandeis Invitational), with all three of their losses coming at the NYU Duals (8-19 to #1 ND, 4-23 vs. #3 OSU and 13-14 vs. NYU) … the Yale women (9-4) have dropped matches to #2 ND (4-23), #3 OSU (3-24) and #6 Northwestern (9-18), with a 19-8 win over NYU …
• BROWN – The Bears men are 12-2 while the women carry a 12-4 record … Brown's only match this season vs. a top-10 came at the Brandeis Invitational, where the men lost to #9 St. John's (9-18) and the women lost to an unranked SJU squad (10-17).