W. Fencing shines at Penn St.

In the Nittany Lions' den, Penn held strong going 3-1 at a multi-meet at Penn State on Saturday.

After defeating North Carolina and Hunter, 19-8 and 26-1 respectively, the Quakers lost to No. 6 Ohio State, 17-10. Penn rebounded from the OSU defeat to rout Duke with an 18-9 victory.

The Quakers got the weekend off to a fast start against the Tarheels. Expected to be the second most difficult team Penn would face, the Quakers stomped North Carolina in a decisive victory.

"We went in and we went in so strong. [It was] fantastic," Penn captain Mindy Nguyen said.

Nguyen swept her opponents, as did returning star Kimberly Linton, junior foilist Lauren Staudinger and freshman foilist Emmanuelle Humblet.

After rolling over Hunter, the Red and Blue ran into the No. 6 Buckeyes -- a national powerhouse, well-known for extremely intensive training and recruitment.

Though a definitive underdog, Penn's sabre and foil squads nearly defeated their Buckeyes' rivals, each losing in close 5-4 decisions.

"They weren't as good as their reputation," freshman Yael Miller said. "On a different day we could have had them."

The Quakers closed out the weekend strongly with the victory over the Blue Devils. Though Penn competed with the majority of its non-rosters, the Red and Blue cruised to an easy win.

Penn's strong outing showed good performances from every fencer, with Nguyen (8-1), Humblet (10-1) and Linton (8-2) posting the strongest showings.

Freshmen Kate Zimmerly and Miller stood strong in their first taste of competition going 3-0 and 1-1, respectively.

"I'm very pleased with the outcome," Penn coach Dave Michanik said.

As a first match, the team was excited to perform well.

"It was a good start overall," junior Christina Verigan said. "Everybody got their job done ... all the hard work we have been doing paid off."

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