Most teams worry about coming out flat after a three-week break from competition.

The Penn State fencing team doesn't seemed to be fazed.

"We're just going to dominate this weekend," senior Meredith Chin said.

With the Thanksgiving break now completed, Penn State went back to the fencing room in the White Building.

"We did some conditioning over the break and it's great to get back to some competitive fencing," Chin said.

The Nittany Lions last competed in the M. Garret Penn State Open on Nov. 13 and 14, and have been practicing ever since.

This weekend, the Lions travel to the University of North Carolina along with NYU, Rutgers and Princeton.

This team has a right to be so confident about how it will perform this weekend.

Four weeks ago, at the Temple Open, the team seemed to dominate as well.

Junior Chris Miller finished first in men's foil, while senior Ryan Wagner finished first in men's epee.

Sophomore Sophia Hiss won the women's saber competition, sophomore Tamara Najm and junior Andrea Wine finished second in women's foil and epee respectively.

At the Open three weeks ago, the Lions had two fencers finish in first in their weapons.

Junior Katarzyna Trzopek finished first in women's epee while senior Nonpatat Panchan finished first in men's foil.

Freshman Franz Boghicev should figure prominently this weekend after finishing second in the men's saber his last time competing.

"The last competition was a great starting out point for us," Chin said. "There were some good teams, we saw who the other teams were, and now we can really kick the season off."

The competitions now are not with a large number of schools, like the 20 schools the team faced three weeks ago.

One thing to look for this weekend is North Carolina's longtime fencing coach Ron Miller, who is looking for his 1,000 victory. He now has 998.

The Lions hope to make Miller wait another week to earn the milestone victory.

Chin, though, said that the Lions' hardest foe this weekend is in Princeton, and for her, personally, in the women's foil, Jacqueline Leahy.

"She's a top-notch fencer and she should in top contention," Chin said. "She's always tricky."

Leahy finished second in women's foil at the M. Garret Open.

The Lions seem to feed off of tougher competition and love the challenge of the better teams in collegiate fencing.

With Meredith Chin talking of "domination," the Carmichael Auditorium at North Carolina needs to be ready for this team of confidence Lions.