In between bouts one, won't necessarily find Penn State epee fencer Katarzyna Trzopek smiling, win or lose.

Maybe the smile is hidden behind her mask, while she is setting up her opponent for their eminent defeat.

However, the look outside the mask is more of a focused and intense look. She says that's the way that she always sits, but after all, smiling never got anyone anywhere.

Trzopek won a national title as a freshman, and is currently on the verge of another this year. Though she won't outright admit that another title is everything, the road to perfection steers her right to it.

"She's a perfectionist. She's trying to do everything the very best," Penn State fencing coach Emmanuil Kaidanov said. "She has a passion for being the best. She compares herself on such a high standard, which is great because it makes her so great."

After posting a 44-3 record her freshman year, Trzopek matched it with a 40-3 sophomore season.

She also beat everyone at the Mid-Atlantic/South Regionals on March 13, setting herself up for the NCAA championships tomorrow and Friday in Boston.

"What is important for me is to not get mad at myself," Trzopek said. "It's just more the way that I will fence and the way that I will feel about everything than actually the results. Of course, it would be nice to be the best."

Trzopek was best in the 2001 World Cup, finishing in first place. She's been the best this year, and she now finds herself swiftly rising the ranks of the best ever at Penn State. She follows a great list of women epee fencers at Penn State. Last year she beat her predecessor, three-time All-American and 2000 NCAA champion, Jessica Burke in the NCAA championships.

Four-time All-American Stephanie Eim's career record of 174-14 is in danger at Trzopek's current pace.

While it's only the second year of her college career, Trzopek is already a name not to be forgotten.

"She should not be ashamed to stand next to [Burke and Eim]," Kaidanov said. "She's as good as anyone, maybe even better."

That lofty statement comes from a coach that is in his 22nd year at Penn State. A coach that has led his team to nine NCAA titles and over 550 combined wins.

Maybe that is why Trzopek is Kaidanov's favorite to repeat as champion, and hope to bring back the team title that Notre Dame took last season.

Trzopek's quest to keep her title has a lot to do with her commitment to the regular season bouts. Winning 84 regular season bouts in two years will show you that. For her, they serve as a nice gauge for where she'll need to be in late March.

"I treat [regular season bouts] seriously," Trzopek said. "I figure that if I lose then I have little self-control or I'm getting worse."

Kaidanov says that in the rare loss, it comes because the self-control problem, certainly not that she's getting worse. With her great competitiveness comes the problem of negative thoughts. It's just something that comes with greatness.

"If something in her perception is not perfect, she immediately reacts negatively," Kaidanov said. "As competition starts, even with her imperfections she is still very strong."

As tomorrow draws near, all thoughts of a mid-season ankle injury fade away. That no longer hurts. The near-perfect regular season records don't mean anything in getting to Friday for the finals.

In Boston, all the practice Trzopek has had since last October will come to fruition.

"My preparation is just knowing what are my weak points," she said. "If I'm able to figure it out and know what I should and shouldn't do, I should be fine."

She humbly says that her plan is to just finish the tournament. When it's all done on Friday, that look of intensity and focus just might be nixed by a bright smile. The smile of a two-time NCAA champion, that didn't just finish the tournament, but finished it on top.