NCAA here they come -- again.

With strong performances at the Mid-Atlantic/South Regionals on March 2-3, the men's and women's fencing teams earned the right to defend their NCAA titles. Penn State will host the national championships, March 20-24.

"It was a terrific performance and an extremely high result," Coach Emmanuil Kaidanov said.

The teams began their spring break in Valley Forge at the regional competition. The first day was spent trying to qualify as teams and the second was spent qualifying as individuals. To qualify as a team, the season results and the results from the competition are combined. To qualify as an individual, results from the day are considered.

The women's foil and men's foil and sabre secured their positions while the men's epee team is still waiting for a decision to determine if they will qualify. Kaidanov does expect the epee team to qualify based on their strong performance at regionals, however.

The women's foil team went into competition seeded first and held on to its position.

"They gave no chances to Temple, though Fairleigh-Dickinson gave them some trouble," Kaidanov said. "Our ladies were not scared."

The Lady Lions defeated FDU, 9-6.

Individually, the team had two fencers qualify for NCAAs. Olga Chernyak placed first and Suzie Paxton finished third.

"Olga Chernyak won first place with quite a strong challenge from Uta Scheffer of FDU," Kaidanov said.

Desire and concentration carried Chernyak to her victory, Kaidanov explained.

Kaidanov explained Paxton was a force during the season.

"It wasn't a surprise. It was like a statement she made," Kaidanov said.

The men's sabre team, like the Lady Lions, also was seeded first and placed first.

"It was the last opportunity to see where we are," Vitali Nazlimov said. "It wasn't too tough. . . .We have the best (sabre) team in the whole USA."

The sabre fencers continued to show their strength during individual competition by securing first, second and third places. David Cox placed first, despite back problems. Thomas Strzalkowski was second, despite thumb problems, and Chris Reuter was third. Nazlimov, a member of the sabre squad, was ill and did not compete during the individual competition.

"Basically I was really proud that the guys did that well," Nazlimov said.

The epee team went into the competition seeded sixth. Once the competition began, however, the team managed to defeat No. 1-seeded Navy, 5-1. This defeat along with numerous other victories gave the team a fourth-place position and a good chance at qualifying for the NCAAs.

The epee team definitely secured positions in individual competition, however. Richard Clark placed first and Ben Millett was second.

"It was a complete sweep in epee," Kaidanov said. "I knew that we had the potential to do that."

The men's foil team went into the competition seeded first. The team lost the first match in the finals and therefore placed third overall. It did secure its position at NCAA, however.

In addition the team had a strong performance from Ed Mufel on the second day of competition. He placed first by remaining undefeated for the day. Anthony DuBose placed fourth and Steve Flores was ninth.