Fencing heads to Penn State for first dual meet of year

This Saturday the men's and women's fencing teams will travel to Penn State's White Building to face some of the nation's top teams. This first dual meet of the 2003-04 season will feature Notre Dame, New York University, UNC-Chapel Hill and the host Nittany Lions.

Following standard NCAA dual meet guidelines, the top three fencers in each weapon will compete. The first team to win 14 total bouts wins the meet. Competing against Penn State and Notre Dame, the defending national champions, will make this no easy task for the Tigers.

"This meet will be about testing ourselves against some of the toughest teams in the nation," senior sabre Jim Leighton said.

Two weeks ago at the Penn State Invitational both Tiger squads faced these same teams in an individual tournament and got a good feel for where they stood in the league and what they should look to improve.

"We have a good chance at taking Notre Dame bout for bout," Leighton commented. "The key to doing well will be to concentrate on executing the fundamentals correctly."

Princeton is well aware that Notre Dame, the defending national champion, will be coming in full force. Senior Kerry Walton, the 2002 epee NCAA champion, is returning and looking for a stellar final season.

Her teammate, junior Alicia Kryczalo — already with two foil national championships under her belt — will also be a huge threat to the women's squad. The Fighting Irish will be fencing this season with 10 returning members from last year's championship squad.

That being said, the heart of the Notre Dame team lies in its senior class, and coaches and fencers alike will depend heavily upon the influential upperclassmen to lead the way this season. Though their freshmen and sophomores are talented, they are still in the developmental stages.

Princeton can match the Irish's depth, as Princeton had members of all four classes finish in the top-10 of their respective divisions at the Penn State Invitational. The Tigers pride themselves on their overall team strength.

"Though their number one and two fencers are extremely good, we have slightly more depth than they do," Leighton said.

Princeton, which has not actually fenced against Notre Dame in a dual meet in several years, is looking forward to doing so and is anticipating a great meet.

"We're looking forward to fencing Notre Dame," junior foil Scott Sherman said.

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Penn State, looking to get back to its 2002 championship form, should also prove to be a challenge for the Tigers this weekend, perhaps even more so than Notre Dame. Posting 13 top-eight finishers in the Penn State Open, the Nittany Lions are returning individual men's and women's national champions on both the men's and women's squads.

Princeton's women's epee team, arguably the strongest aspect of the team, will certainly be on the lookout for Penn State's Katarzyna Trzopek, the Polish senior who is currently the defending epee national champion.

"I expect Penn State will be more of a learning experience," Leighton said. "But hopefully we can steal enough victories so that the team as a whole can win the meet."

The key to earning those crucial victories will be increased focus on the fundamentals by every member of the team. Competing against the top fencers in the nation takes concentration and technical perfection — something Princeton has the potential to demonstrate.

"What will win bouts against some of the more experienced fencers will be proper execution and denying them opportunities by eliminating basic mistakes and mental lapses," Leighton said. "At the same time we must exploit the openings that flaws in our opponent's techniques will give us."

The fact that the Tigers will have several fencers that were unable to attend the Penn State Invitational should also help Princeton gain better results this weekend.

Ben Solomon, a sophomore epee fencer, was injured for the last tournament and promises to contribute to the victories this weekend. Freshman Alejandro Bras, who has been abroad at a World Cup competition, will also be competing this weekend.

"Our foil and saber squads are better than last year, and we're expecting better fencing from everyone on the team," Sherman said.