As the season draws closer and closer to the end, the fencers climb higher and higher in their quest for excellence. The men's and women's teams travel to Philadelphia today to test their strengths against Yale, Duke and Penn in a quad meet tomorrow.

Considering the teams' most recent competitors, this weekend will be like a culture shock for the fencers. Last weekend they routed all six of their opponents, but tomorrow they must face stronger, more experienced squads.

"I can't wait for this weekend," assistant coach Wes Glon said. "I can't wait to see their element of fire."

Unlike last weekend's meet, though, the fencers may have a tougher time winning each match by such large margins.

"It'll be close," Geoff Russell said. "But our epee team shouldn't have any problem and the team as a whole should do well."

Duke was at last weekend's meet so the Lions had a chance to preview the fencers' styles and strengths before facing them tomorrow. Foil fencer Randall Skrabonja will probably be their strongest element. The Lions defeated the Blue Devils by a wide margin last year, 23-4 in men's and 13-3 in women's.

Penn and Yale are a bit more unfamiliar to the Lions and are expected to be much stronger than Duke. Last year the men's squad beat both Penn and Yale, 20-7 and 18-9 respectively. The Lady Lions defeated Yale 9-7 and lost to Penn 10-6. All-American Chris Campbell will fence for Yale in women's foil.

Kaidanov said Penn retained most of its fencers from last season and will be tough to beat this year. He also expects Yale's foil and sabre squads to be tough.

"I don't know what to expect of the fencers," Katie Kowalski said. "I'll have to fence better than I did last weekend, that's for sure."

Kowalski worked specifically on some style techniques this week. She hopes to use some new actions on her opponents because many of the opposing teams know her style.

Both coaches will be able to watch Kowalski and the others more closely this weekend than in the past few meets. When fencing away, the coaches aren't responsible for the organization of the events and are more available to watch the squads.

"I'd rather go if it's not too far," Glon said. "Then I can concentrate on the team and stay with them all the time."

Although they cannot do much for the fencers once they're out on the strip, the coaches can stop the bout and give suggestions to the fencer. They can also be on hand for any discrepancies in the judges' calls.

Kowalski, Lisa Posthumus, Janet Rossman and Jennifer Carcich will fence foil for the Lady Lions. Substitute Suzie Paxton will also travel to the meet.

Jim Marsh, Russell and Lou Kun will fence epee. David Cox, Ali Rezazadeh and Chris Reuter will fence sabre. Ed Mufel, Stephen Gold and Stephen Flores will fence foil for the Lions.

Substitutes Jon D'Amico, Jonathan Pollack and Rich Ritterbush will also be on hand to compete. The substitutes will fence in the case of injury or if the team seals a victory early in the match.