There was a time when the Penn State-Columbia fencing rivalry was very heated. There was even a time two years ago when Columbia beat Penn State for the NCAA-team title.

But Columbia's fencing has lost some of its power, and when the two teams faced off this weekend, there wasn't much question as to who had taken the place at the top.

On the men's side, the Lions defeated Columbia and Pennsylvania by identical 20-7 scores and asserted themselves as the team to beat heading into the NCAA regionals on March 4-5.

"It was an ass-whuppin' and it felt good," said sophomore Jason Levin of the men's victories.

Levin handed in one of the surprise performances in men's sabre, going 3-0.

"I was surprised that I even fenced because on the trip up I felt horrible and I thought I would have to sit out and let one of the alternates fence," he said. "However, I sucked it up and did very well."

In men's epee, both sophomore Greg Gregor and junior Jon Walheim gave impressive performances and went 3-0. Levin said that was what gave the Lions the win.

"Jon, Greg and Kimo (Quaitance) did what they had to and won their matches," he said. "They are responsible for our victory."

In men's foil, senior Andy Gearhart went 3-0. He said that Columbia probably wasn't as psyched for this match as it could have been.

"Columbia didn't make as much noise as they have in the past," he said. "That surprised me."

On the women's side, Penn State recovered from its loss to Yale last weekend and defeated Columbia (20-11), Penn (19-13) and Temple (26-6). The biggest factor in the Lady Lions' victory was the return of junior captain Olga Kalinovskaya, who missed last weekend's match due to illness.

Foil fencer Sibyl Goldstein said the presence of Kalinovskaya is invaluable.

"It's not just that she is there to fence, but she's also our team leader, and she helps to coach us," she said. "She takes us aside after each of our bouts and tells us what we did right and wrong, and it really helps."

Kalinovskaya was solid in foil, going 4-0 to stay undefeated for the season. Goldstein went 3-1, but wanted to do a little better.

"I had hoped to go undefeated because I have been doing very well lately," she said. "In my first match, I was a little nervous and not very focused and I lost."

In women's epee, freshman Polo Wagner and senior Cecilia Youngblood went 3-1 to help the Lady Lions.