The women's fencing team qualified for the NCAA Championships by placing second in last Saturday's Mid-Atlantic South Regional Championships. The top four teams from the event qualified for NCAAs, March 24-28 at Notre Dame.

On Sunday, fencing against individuals from the same teams, Lisa Posthumus finished second, Katie Kowalski third, Jennifer Carcich fifth, Janet Rossman 10th and Suzie Paxton 11th. Posthumus, Kowalski and Carcich are guaranteed spots in the individual draw at NCAAs and Rossman may go as a wildcard.

"We had excellent individual performances," Coach Emmanuil Kaidanov said. "It is excellent to have all of them in the top 12 and three in the top five."

Carcich led the Lady Lions through the team competition with her 13-2 record and her team spirit.

"She fenced extremely strong," Kaidanov said. "She was like an inspiration for the team."

The Lady Lions started the day with quick defeats over James Madison and Navy, winning both matches, 9-1. They went on to defeat Farleigh Dickinson, 9-3, and their 6'5" powerhouse, Uta Schaper.

"I was so excited to beat (Schaper). I beat her 5-1, it was a fast bout," Carcich said.

The Lady Lions then fenced Penn, one of their strongest foes all season and held on to win, 9-5. They then only had one team left to fence, the ever-strong Temple Owls.

Earlier in the season the women had difficulties fencing Temple. The Owls' fencing style has nagged the Lady Lions all season as they tried to find different ways to overcome Temple's often erratic actions.

The Lady Lions lost to Temple, 8-6. The Owls' style again seemed to play a role in the loss. After fencing all day, the Lady Lions felt fatigued and had to be prepared both mentally and physically for the match.

"We were physically tired but we were also mentally tired," Carcich said.