Competing against two of the top fencing teams in the country is hard enough, but competing against your younger sister can be even harder.

When the Penn State fencing team came into Notre Dame's Joyce Center Fieldhouse on Saturday, junior captain Marten Zagunis saw a familiar face on the Fighting Irish's roster: his sister Mariel.

Though he would not be facing her in actual competition, Zagunis would have to watch his teammates face a person he has watched fence his entire life.

"I always say family comes first and my sister and I are very close," Zagunis said. "But when it comes to cheering for her against teammates, I will always cheer my heart out for my team."

The Penn State women's team (10-2) went 3-2 against its toughest competition of the year, beating Northwestern (19-8), Cal-State Fullerton (22-5), and Wayne State (21-6).

The Lions losses came against top-ranked Notre Dame (16-11) and Ohio State (14-13).

Zagunis watched his sister go 3-0 against Penn State's top saber competitors.

"When it came down to it," Zagunis said, "I really would rather see our team win."

Sophomore Case Szarwark and junior Katarzyna Trzopek had a strong performance on Saturday with both holding wins in the epee against Notre Dame's top ranked fencer Amy Orlando in the Lions loss.

"I just can't choose favorites," Zagunis said. "I'm sure when I fence she does the same."

Zagunis, along with senior Nonpatat Panchan, helped lead the men's team to a perfect 5-0 record.

The men's team beat top-ranked Ohio State 15-12 and Notre Dame by the same score.

They also beat Detroit (23-4), Cal-State Fullerton (23-4) and Wayne State, cementing an overall 12-0-season record.

Panchan went undefeated against Notre Dame, helping the men's foil team add to the Lions' win.

In the foil, freshman Jeff Chang had a strong showing in the foil as well beating Notre Dame's top fencers.

"We played the two toughest teams in the country and we beat them," Zagunis said. "We were a veritable force."

The Lions now have the next week off before heading to the University of Pennsylvania for their next dual competition.

"We now have to practice our hardest over the next two weeks," Zagunis said. "It was a very positive weekend for the team and it will help us to focus on future events."

Now that the three top teams in the country against have faced each other they have to wait until the NCAA Championships in March until they meet again.

"We were all right this weekend as a whole but not great," Zagunis said. "This weekend showed us what we need to do in the NCAAs."