So many Penn State teams came close this athletic year. The Lady Lions women's volleyball team had a sensational year only to come up empty handed in the championship match and the Icers came up short as well.

None of these teams were able to get over that final hurdle.

The ingredients were just not there, except for fencing coach Emmanuil Kaidanov and his seemingly unbeatable fencers.

For the fifth consecutive year, the Penn State fencing team came home with the NCAA National Championship. The team had all of the right ingredients, including some new ones, to give it a recipe for winning like no other.

The recipe:

First you need an Eim

Who is Stephanie Eim? That was my main question in the beginning of the year, where at the Garret Invitational, the freshman placed second. This was a pretty impressive feat considering there were hundreds of other fencers at this legendary Penn State-hosted affair.

"OK," I thought to myself, "I'd have to keep her in mind." As it turned out, I ended up not being able to get her out of it. Eim tore through the fencing world only to find herself eye to eye with teammate Charlotte Walker in the women's individual epee semifinals at last week's championships. Eim ended up defeating the defending champion only to lose in the final match, placing second in the country.

Two other freshmen that made an impact, Michael Stahlut and Daniel Landgren, made the trip to the national championships as well, and looked impressive in doing so. Obviously, talented freshman are key for that winning recipe.

Mix in some experience

It was a great year for the seniors -- seniors who displayed a lot of heart and talent to ensure they would win it all for the fourth time in their collegiate careers. Seniors David Lidow, Donnie McGill, Tom Peng, Wendy Hall, Laura Dominguez, Keysa Oritz, Sarah Schnell and Katherine Spatz will be missed. They gave the team character, spunk, and most of all, a lot of heart. Each came through in his or her own way to add a lot of love and strength to this championship recipe.

Try to replace the lost ingredients, plus remain hungry

This may be the hardest ingredient to serve up. You really need a pool of talent, and the Lions' pool is very deep. This year, young fencers such as sophomores Austin O'Neil, Aaron Stuewe and Mike Takagi dove right in, making a deep impact on the fencing community.

Juniors Ola Korfanty, Carla Esteva and Gang Lu all had successful years to pace the Lions, and all three will return for one more helping.

Get a darn good chef

Kaidanov drove the team again with his heart, honesty and faith. His beliefs and love for his sport have helped his players achieve plateaus that most athletes and other coaches only dream about.

Finished result

There you have it. If you can fulfill all of these requirements, then you just may have yourself a championship team. The Penn State fencing team's recipe has proven to be consistently successful in this decade, so much so that it can make an argument for being perhaps the most successful team sport in school history.