The Penn State men's and women's fencing teams opened their regular season at NYU on Saturday with a dual meet that finished with a striking resemblance to the team's 2005 home opener.

Penn State competed against Rutgers, UNC, Princeton, Harvard and NYU, generating results identical to those in 2005.

The men's and women's teams accrued a combined score of 9-1, with the women finishing undefeated, 5-0 and the men finishing strong, 4-1. The Penn State men suffered their only loss to the defending national champion, Harvard, 14-13.

Both squads had impressive showings at the meet, though the men's side was short-handed, missing two of its top scoring fencers. Junior saber fencer Franz Boghicev is competing in the men's world cup and Freshman foil fencer Nick Chinman will join the Nittany Lions in January.

The women's team took command of the competition, finishing strong in all three weapons, with two undefeated fencers on the saber and foil squads.

Senior Sophia Hiss ended her match with a perfect 9-0 in the saber division, and Freshman Doris Willette finished 13-0 in the foil.

"[Willette] is an extraordinary fencer and we're lucky to have her on the team," Sophomore Anne Jackson said.

Head coach Emmanuil Kaidanov said the trio of epee fencers did a commendable job.

Senior Case Szarwark finished 13-1 in epee, followed by freshman Keri Byerts finishing 11-1. Freshman Anastasia Ferdman rounded out the epee scores, finishing 12-2.

Jackson said the team went in with a really good attitude and did pretty well.

"Of course we would have liked to beat Harvard, but it was really close so we're looking pretty good for rest of season," Jackson said.

Regular season matches, like the one on Saturday, give fencers a certain number bouts and a winning percentage, which is used to determine who qualifies for the regional meet. At regionals, the chosen fencers compete to earn a spot at the national championship.

Kaidanov said the team will continue to fight for the highest possible ranks in the nation.