Both fencing teams visit Boston

Women ready for the Crimson "On Guard?Ready?Fence." The Penn women's fencing team is eager -- and that's an understatement -- to hear this phrase tomorrow morning when the Quakers take on Harvard in Cambridge, Mass. Coming off a convincing win against Princeton Tuesday, the Quakers need a victory over the Crimson to keep their Ivy title hopes alive. Penn (8-1, 2-0 Ivy league) will face Brandeis, Brown, MIT, Wellesley and Brown in the tournament as well, but its importance to the overall season pales in comparison to the Harvard meet. "We don't really know much about the other teams," Penn coach Dave Micahnik said. "We'll fence to win though. I think we can beat all of the others." But as victories over the less powerful fencing schools look promising, Penn foresees a battle with Harvard (3-0 Ivy League). The Crimson isn't a perennial powerhouse, and in fact, the Quakers swept Harvard in their last face-off. But with its returning No. 1 fencer, senior Mai-Ling Eirney, and a new freshman recruit from Romania who has stepped up into the top seed, Harvard will be a definite threat. "We're not sure what to expect from this team," Penn senior captain Anne Gaeta said. "We'll have to watch out for their new freshman?but we'll fence tough." Going back to her hometown of Boston, Gaeta finds this meet even more exciting. One of Gaeta's former high school teammates, Mina Benes, is currently on the Brandeis squad. "I'm going to like getting back," Gaeta said. "There are a lot of people I'll recognize and get to fence against for the last time." If the Quakers can put together a victory against Harvard, which has defeated Columbia, Princeton and Yale, Penn's hopes at the Ivy title will increase greatly. "It looks like Harvard or Penn will be the champions," Micahnik said. "Odds are good for us if we get Harvard." Sophomore Megumi Sakae, one of Penn's four starters, will be one to watch in the tournament. She went undefeated last year against the Crimson and hopes to duplicate her success. Her only stumbling block may come in the way of a mental block common to many athletes: "Will I hurt it again?" Sakae is coming off a stress fracture which occurred over the Winter Break. Although her doctor has given her the go-ahead, she won't be competing at 100 percent until she is mentally into the bout. "I haven't been as aggressive since the injury," Sakae said. "I hope to upgrade my performance this weekend and get back on track. We're confident after the Princeton win and we want to prove we are the best in the league." Senior Rachel Iannacone, a second team all-American last season, along with juniors Sarah Johns and Inca Chui, who have had strong performances this year, will round out the Penn roster. With this weekend's meet the most important of the year, and facing a possible struggle against Columbia next weekend, the Quakers are in a pivotal point of their season. "We're going to go out and fence hard," Sakae said. "We want to totally overpower them. We want the title this year."