En guarde. The Penn State fencing team will open its home slate this weekend with the 31st annual Garret Penn State Open.

Top collegiate fencing talent will be competing in the event again this year.

The Nittany Lions will look to repeat their strong performance at last year's Open, where the women placed four fencers in the top five of each of their events while the men were able to place one fencer in the top three of each event.

In the saber, junior captain Alex Weber captured the gold at last year's Open with several other individuals turning in strong performances as well.

On the women's side, Penn State turned in its best performance in epee through the efforts of graduated senior All-American Stephanie Eim and Jessica Burke, who dueled in the final with Eim prevailing.

Several other Lions will be looking to improve on last year's finishes.

-Kevin Keating