The Harvard men's and women's fencing teams lunged into their winter seasons last night with decisive victories over Brown at Malkin Athletic Center.

The men's team improved its record to 2-0 with a 16-11 triumph in an intense, grueling battle. The women completed the Harvard sweep with a 12-4 trouncing of the Bruins in their first meet of the season.

The men trailed, 11-10, going into the final epee and foil rounds. But the Crimson came through, winning six unanswered bouts.

Harvard was led by the epee team, which took eight of nine bouts. Captain Jim O'Neil--last year's NCAA champion--and junior Adam Weintraub spearheaded the attack by winning all of their bouts.

The Crimson also received a tremendous boost from Arthur Phillips, the number-three foil, who chalked up victories over all three of his opponents. That included at 5-1 upset of the Bruins' top fencer.

"If you get the attitude that you can't lose, you can beat anybody," Phillips said. "That's how I felt out there today."

The women, ranked 10th in the nation at the end of last season, were led by Michelle Kocsh and Penelope Papailias, both of whom went 4-0 in their bouts.

"We won pretty convincingly," Papailias said. "We were a little nervous because it was our first meet."

The women are gearing up for an important showdown with Columbia on December 5.