Tomorrow the fencers will close their dual-meet season with the most dramatic performance of all.

The Lady Lions will put their 15-0 record on the line against Columbia and Temple, two of the top women's contenders in the nation. And the Lions, 14-1, will try to uproot rival Columbia and repeat their 27-0 drubbing of Haverford last year.

The action in White Building will begin at 10 a.m. against Haverford and Temple (12-0) and will start to really heat up at 2 p.m. as the fencers face Columbia (7-1). Last year the men's fencing team beat Columbia, 17-10, in the dual-meet season but lost, 88-86, for the national title.

Tomorrow's matchup is expected to be the most intense of the season. When the Lions broke Columbia's 51-meet win streak last year, they kindled the flame in the growing rivalry.

"It will be a very interesting and close match," assistant coach Wes Glon said. "This has been a rivalry for the past several years and now both teams are (again) at the top. We have one loss and Columbia has one loss (so) whoever wins will probably be ranked second in the nation (behind Notre Dame)."

The Lady Lions will be trying to close their season without a loss. The last time they had a perfect season was in 1983.

"I really want to win more than ever before -- it would be history," captain Lisa Posthumus said. "Last weekend really psyched us up and gave us more confidence."

The Lady Lions avenged last year's 10-6 loss to Yale with a 9-5 win last weekend. They also snuffed Penn and Duke, two other top contenders in the division. They will have to face teams of similar caliber tomorrow, but will have to adjust to their particular styles of fencing.

"Columbia is technically stronger than Temple, but will be easier for us to fence individually," Posthumus said. "They react the way they're supposed to react, but we have a harder time with Temple because of their scrappy fighting spirit."

She explained that Columbia is a skilled team, using all the proper technical methods of fencing. Temple, however, fences for the touch and requires more concentration to defeat.

"The more psyched up we are as a team, the better we'll come through," she said.

The Lady Lions will have to contend with All-American Muna Bitar (34-2), Jennifer Zester (21-3), Marie Petite-Michel (22-5) and Yvonne Kedoin (22-7) from Temple. Tsu Moy, another All-American, will be fencing for Columbia.

As the men take to the strip against Columbia and Haverford, they too will be facing some impressive names and records in the fencing world. Columbia has won three consecutive national titles and should again be in the race for the title. The coaches believe, though, that the records won't matter when the fencers are on the strip.

"Theoretically, if you look at the names, the teams are very even; it could go either way," Glon said. "Hopefully the crowd and the support will help to give us the home advantage. We need help pumping up the team. "

Coach Emmanuil Kaidanov stressed that the results will come down to who is better on the strip, not who has the name or the record going into the bout.

"Look at their names and look at our names. They have All-Americans, we have All-Americans. There is no such thing as equality -- someone will always come out ahead of the other. The strip will show which team will be better at this particular moment. The fencers agreed that against a team like Columbia, the win will come down to the final moments on the strip.

"It's going to come down to who wants it more," David Cox said.

One aspect that the fencers will have to deal with is the intensity of the Columbia fencers. Earlier in the season, at the Maxwell Garret Open, the Columbia fencers displayed their energy and intensity as they screamed and yelled for their teammates. Tomorrow will probably be the same as the two teams enter their final bouts.