Practice had just ended and there was sweat dripping all over the floor.

One player complained that he could not see because of the sweat in his eyes.

The Penn State fencing team's season is closing in on Nationals and practices are getting tougher.

"We all seem to be pushing harder and the coaches have us doing extra drills in practice," junior Layne Vashro said. "Everyone is more into it."

This weekend the Nittany Lions travel to Philadelphia for the Penn Duals, their last dual matches of the year.

The team will be facing nationally ranked Columbia as well as Cornell, Temple and St. John's.

Vashro, a competitor in the saber, looks at Columbia as the team's biggest challenge but the Lions should not overlook the other teams.

"We need to respect all of our bouts," Vashro said.

"Every match, even the easier ones, are equally important."

Two weeks ago, the men's team defeated top-ranked Ohio State as well as nationally ranked Notre Dame at the Notre Dame Duals.

Vashro hopes that the Lions will build off those victories for this weekend and for the rest of the season.

"We are getting other teams to pull their heads out and show them that we are just as good as them," Vashro said.

"We have to go into each bout thinking we're better than them."

The women hope to improve from their last effort, in which the Lions went 3-2, losing in close matches against Ohio State and Notre Dame.

The team had strong efforts from Laura Hillstrom and Sophia Hiss in the saber, as well as Katarzyna Trzopek and Andrea Wine in the epee.

The foil team looks to continue on its consistent season as well.

Columbia's fencing team is currently coming off a weekend during which it went undefeated.

The women's team beat a Notre Dame team that the men could not defeat.

Between Ohio State, Notre Dame, Columbia and Penn State these final matches are just a preview for Nationals in March.

Columbia's men's and women's teams are both ranked fifth in the national polls, compared to Penn State's No. 2 men's team and No. 3 women's team.

The Lions hope that tomorrow they can wipe the sweat from their eyes and see what their competition will be like for Nationals.

But mostly, the team just wants to continue to be successful.

"There really isn't much of a storyline for the weekend ahead," Vashro said.

"We just need to keep winning as we tune up for Regionals."