The bout was tied, 4-4. The match was tied, 4-4. The epee squad needed one touch against Notre Dame to have a shot at winning the United States Fencing Association Collegiate Open this past weekend.

The bout was tainted with controversy as one Notre Dame touch supposedly hit off target. The judge saw nothing, the point was awarded.

Teammates Jim Marsh and Louis Kun had just won key bouts to bring the Lions out of a 3-1 deficit and watched impatiently as Russell maneuvered on the strip.

Then Geoff Russell faced his opponent for the final touch. The anticipation in the crowd grew and assistant coach Wes Glon agonizingly awaited the deciding blow.

After a couple of failed attempts, Russell went in for the kill and was caught short. The green light glared in Notre Dame's favor.

"I didn't even know it was over; I thought the score was 3-3 and that touch made it 4-3," Russell said.

The intensity of this match exemplified the entire weekend of action as the Lions took on 23 teams in the quest for the USFA collegiate title.

The eight Lion squads failed to win any one division, but all managed to finish in the top 10.

"Everyone had their moments when they were fencing exceptionally well," said captain Jim Marsh after winning 14 of 15 bouts.

The two women's foil teams fenced Saturday and came up with fourth and ninth places. Also fencing Saturday, the men's epee squads finished fourth and tenth.

Sunday, the men's sabre squads took impressive second and ninth places. The men's foil teams emerged with third and ninth places.

The Lions lacked consistency in the tournament. Maintaining consistency is quite difficult, though, in a field of such varied opponents. The Lions faced teams that fenced on a much lower level and teams that fenced equally as well. They had trouble adjusting to the variety of skill levels.

"You're going so fast that they'll sneak in and make a simple touch," Ali Rezezadah said. "You have to make your actions so much simpler."

"If you fence complicated against simple, you'll screw yourself up," Marsh agreed. "You have to keep everything simple."

Once the Lions reached the latter part of direct eliminations, though, every bout became much more complex. They began to fence against nationally ranked competitors who compete on the same level as the Lions.

An obstacle to deal with at the upper level is each fencer's technique, Marsh said. Every fencer develops his or her own style, and the key to a good fencer is being able to adjust to those styles.

The Lady Lions followed Notre Dame, Temple and Columbia in foil. After they lost to Temple, they lacked motivation, Katie Kowalski said.

"Temple basically just goes for the touch," she said. "You have to be very accurate and make no mistakes."

They later lost to Columbia, which Kowalski referred to as a "very clean bout -- very pretty to watch." She said that Columbia uses much more form and technique similar to their own style.

The men's sabre squad lost only to Columbia in an intense final match which left David Cox plastered against the wall. In the final bout, Cox was cast into the padded wall and furiously pounded it in agony of his 5-4 defeat.

In men's foil, Ed Mufel, Stephen Flores and Stephen Gold united to clinch a third place finish. They shut down Brandeis, 5-0, in the third- fourth place bout.