For the second straight week, the sabre undercut otherwise sound performances by the Harvard men's and women's fencing teams.

But while the women (1-1 overall, 0-0 Ivy) were able to overcome their lackluster showing in the sabre to defeat Brandeis 19-8, the men (0-2, 0-0) could not recover and fell to the Judges, 16-11 last night at the Malkin Athletic Center.

Out of nine sabre matches, the men won only two bouts. Last night's 2-7 showing spoiled the team's solid performances in the foil and epee divisions.

"The men's team's weakness is obviously the sabre," Harvard Coach Peter Brand said. "We just don't have enough experience with that weapon."

The showing was hardly an improvement from the 1-8 mark the men posted in its first match of the season against MIT, who downed the Crimson in both women's and men's competition on November 19.

"[Last night's loss] is especially difficult to take because we competed well in the foil and epee against both MIT and now Brandeis," Brand said. "But if you lose 8-1 or 7-2 in the sabre, you're dead."

The men's team was led last night by senior co-captain Davin Chew, who recorded a perfect 3-0 mark in foil competition. His three victories (5-2, 5-0, 5-3) helped the Crimson edge Brandeis in the foil category, 5 wins to 4.

In the epee, freshman Derek Lindblom triumphed in two of his three matches. Nonetheless, his individual success was not enough to carry the Crimson in the event, as Brandeis nipped Harvard in the epee, 5-4.