For the majority of the six-hour long dual fencing meet this weekend, Penn State fencers endured nothing more than a competitive practice.

But against St. John's the team suffered its lone loss of the weekend and the second loss for the men's team this season.

Collectively, the women and men's teams combined for almost a flawless day winning seven of eight matches against four teams.

The No. 3 Penn State fencing team made short work of the North Carolina, Duke, and squads from Hunter and Haverford colleges in its last home dual meet of the season on Saturday at the White Building.

The women's team (4-1) finished the competition with a record of 4-0, while the men's teams (3-2) only slip up came against a quality St. John's team, ending the day 3-1.

"The first few bouts of the morning are different because you are fighting off jitters and trying to get your head into the match," saber Marten Zagunis said.

"St. John's is clearly one of the best teams out there they have very good fencers. Darren Whitmer is a fantastic five touch fencer, it is his strongest point."

Zagunis and freshmen standout Ian Farr led the men's saber with seven wins each but their efforts were not enough to beat the Red Storm.

St. John's lived up to their No. 4 ranking fighting tough battles in each weapon. The biggest difference in scores came in the men's foil where St. John's took seven of the nine bouts.

"They are a very good team," Penn State fencing coach Emmanuil Kaidanov said. "The loss to St. John's was hard. Could we have done better against them? I think we could have."

The foil scores were lopsided because two of the top three fencers did not compete. Sophomore Christopher Miller was out with academic problems and senior Nonpatat Panchan is training for the Olympics. The five-point deficit in the foil match was enough to hand the men a 16-11 loss overall.

Neither team looked back after the turbulence cause by the Red Storm, with both the men and women making quick work of its next opponents.

Two women rose up and settled at the top of pack in the foil and epee. Merdith Chin and Katarzyna Trzopek had solid days. Chin went undefeated and Trzopek only dropped one bout. Freshman Case Szarwark continued to impress her coaches with a 10-2 day.

Penn State takes a two-week leave of absence from collegiate competition until they travel to Boston College on Feb. 8.