Lion fencers plow through field in Indiana, go undefeated

The Penn State fencing team can only hope its next visit to South Bend, Ind., will be as successful as the trip there this past weekend.

Both the men's (13-0) and women's (12-1) teams went virtually unscathed in their weekend getaways to Irish country. Each squad went 6-0 with wins over Detroit Mercy, Cleveland State, Northwestern, Case Western, Ohio State and No. 3 Notre Dame. Penn State will make one more journey to South Bend on Mar. 19-22 for the NCAA championships.

Penn State coach Emmanuil Kaidanov said he was most impressed with how his team handled the tough Notre Dame team on its home turf.

"It was a very pleasant surprise how the team performed against Notre Dame," Kaidanov said. "To beat Notre Dame at Notre Dame with Notre Dame crowds is not that easy."

The Lion men's and women's victories against the Irish, 17-10 and 17-15 respectively, didn't come without problems.

Penn State had to deal with a large Notre Dame team that made a lot of noise. The fencers admitted the cheering was a distraction.

"The Notre Dame team was very spirited," said men's team captain Tom Peng. "They get motivated when things get really loud. But we stood tough. It didn't shake us that much."

It wasn't raucous crowds that the Penn State women were worried about going into the meet. It was the prospect of having to face two of the best teams in the country -- Notre Dame and Ohio State.

While the Irish gave the Lions one of their most difficult matches in recent memory, Penn State was able to comfortably defeat Ohio State 24-8. The talented Buckeye foil squad, which included last year's NCAA champion Yelina Kalkina, lost its meet with the Lions 9-7. Penn State freshman Charlotte Walker, who had recorded an 18-2 record this season in epee, was moved to foil for the weekend by Kaidanov. The risky move paid off as Walker defeated Kalkina in a key bout -- a victory that failed to take the veteran Penn State coach by surprise.

"(Walker is) experienced and world class in foil," Kaidanov said. "She's not as good as in epee, but she's confident."

Kaidanov's fencers also appreciated the switch of Walker, who is expected to rejoin her epee teammates at the next meet.

"She's a good fencer all around," said women's team captain Claire Jackson. "I think it was a brave move by the coach to give up some sure wins in epee."

On a day in which many things seemed to go right for the Lions, there were numerous strong individual performances.

In women's epee, junior Wendy Hall and sophomore Alexandra Korfanty each fenced their way to a 20-3 mark, while women's foil fencer Carla Esteva finished the day at 14-2.

The men's foil trio of juniors David Lidow and Donald McGill and sophomore Gang Lu continued to dominate their competition, with McGill mustering the only undefeated record on the day for Penn State at 13-0. Lidow and Lu each went 12-1. Freshman Brendan Baby (10-3) and Peng (11-2) led the way in epee, and freshman Aaron Steuwe earned a 9-2 record in sabre.

Although happy with the team's performance on Saturday, Kaidanov said the Lions have to prepare for tough competition down the road. On Feb. 21, the Lions fence a strong Colombia team. And, as the coach points out, there's always the possibility of meeting Stanford again at the NCAAs.