Fencing to face old coach Litvan

The Penn fencing teams have learned they must approach every match, every bout, with the same high intensity. The women's squad had no problem mastering that lesson as it won all three of its matches. But some members of the men's team believe they may have underestimated their opponents a bit, leading to losses against powerful-yet-beatable NYU and St. John's teams. The Quakers now know not to take only some of its opponents seriously. Carrying that philosophy into Thursday night's 6 p.m. meet at Rutgers against the Scarlet Knights and Vassar will be a bit difficult for the men's team, however. Rutgers coach Yephim Litvan held an assistant position at Penn for the last four years. He aided coach Dave Micahnik in molding the Quakers into winners, and his pupils have not forgotten. "He was an excellent coach. We were all close to him," epee squad member Alex Edelman said. No matter how amicable the Penn contingent feels toward Litvan, the pleasantries will have to be put off. "While we're fencing we can't afford to think about other things," Micahnik said. "They're not our buddies during the meet. We can be friends after it's over. I'm more concerned with how good they are rather than personalities. They have a positive attitude and they're a young, threatening team." An interesting subplot will be how Litvan utilizes his intimate knowledge of the Quakers' fencing techniques. He assisted many of Penn's fencers in the evolution of their styles. Rutgers could conceivably hold quite an advantage in knowing its opponents' strengths and weaknesses. Both the men's and women's teams could have something extra to worry about, but they do not seem too concerned. "It should be interesting to see how my night develops because Litvan gave me lessons last season and this past summer," women's All-Ivy selection Megumi Sakae said. "But it works both ways because we know what style he teaches, so we also may have an advantage over our opponents." Armed with what Micahnik termed "a new invigoration" due to the presence of their new coach, Rutgers has only four seniors on the men's and women's team combined. The Penn men have learned they must be wary of any opponent. Having dropped two of three matches last Saturday, Penn will view Rutgers and Vassar with the same respect and determination as any other teams. Even if revered Yale and the start of the Ivy League season loom Saturday, Thursday's meet will not be overlooked. "We have to beat the good teams before we can think about beating the great teams," captain Edward Skyler said. · The Rutgers women's squad carries five freshmen on the 10-fencer roster. "Rutgers has some new people and although we hope they should not be too much trouble, we cannot take them too lightly," women's co-captain Sarah Johns said.