44-0 possible for Penn State fencing team

Hundreds of sports teams begin every season hoping for the perfect season. Slowly but surely the number of teams dwindles to a small few by the end of the season.

The Penn State fencing team is one of these few and, if it wins its three dual meets tomorrow, it will finish the regular season undefeated.

If the Nittany Lions defeat Columbia and Penn tomorrow in Philadelphia, they will finish 14-0. The Nittany Lions have not lost since 1994 and, over the past three seasons, are 42-0.

The team faces two tough tests tomorrow. Penn has a very strong foil team, led by Olympian Cliff Bayer and senior captain Adam Brown, an All-Ivy-League fencer last year. Bayer, a freshman and the No. 1 foil fencer in the country, was the United States Olympic Committee's Fencer of the Year in 1996.

"We have a good team, but they have a very good team," Bayer said. "They have a lot more depth than us, but that doesn't mean we won't give 100 percent."

Things won't get any easier for the foil team when it faces Columbia. Dan Kellner, currently No. 5 in the nation, provides a challenge for Penn State's foil team of Gang Lu, David Lidow and Wes Waldron.

Luckily for the foil trio, it gets reinforcements with the return of Nik Lezhava. Lezhava, a redshirt sophomore, had a 33-6 record last year and finished seventh in the NCAA tournament.

The second-team All-American hasn't seen any action this season due to a concussion he suffered over semester break. He returns tomorrow to provide another weapon to an already powerful foil squad and displace Waldron from the starting lineup.

"During the past two weeks at practice he has performed well," Lu said about Lezhava. "We hope that Nik can make the foil team stronger, but I believe both (Waldron and Lezhava) are good fencers."

The Lady Lions will improve to 16-0 if they can beat Penn, Columbia and Temple. If they manage this, they will have a 33-0 record over the past two seasons. However, they have to overcome one of the nation's toughest teams in Columbia.

"Their women's team is practically the strongest team we have fenced this season," Penn State coach Emmanuil Kaidanov said. "It's going to be a big one."

The Penn women's team is not as strong as last year. The Quakers lost Megumi Sakae, a two-time All-American in foil, and other solid contributors.

Temple has traditionally had a strong fencing program, although it has struggled the past few years against tougher opponents such as Penn State. The Lady Lions defeated the Owls, 28-4, a year ago.

Both the Nittany and Lady Lions also will use tomorrow's matches to prepare for the Mid-Atlantic Regional and NCAA tournaments in March, while they also are looking to finish the season perfect.

"I think it's an important boost to the team to go undefeated," Lady Lion Claire Jackson said. "It gives people confidence for the NCAAs and makes them feel more ready."