Undefeated Yale is the focus for W. Fencing

Yale, which is known as an aggressive team, will have plenty spirit with it in West Philadelphia. Fresh off a 4-1 showing in a multi-meet at Penn State last Saturday, the Penn women's fencing team looks to continue its success in two important meets this weekend. Tomorrow, the Quakers (5-3, 0-1 Ivy League) try to erase their losing record in the Ivy League in a home match in Weightman Gym against Yale. On Sunday, the team travels across town to a multi-meet at Temple to fence the Owls, Johns Hopkins and Fairleigh Dickinson. Yale (6-0, 2-0) soundly defeated the Quakers last year, 22-10, en route to its Ivy League title. The Elis have continued their winning ways so far this season, winning each of their six meets handily. Yale defeated common opponent NYU in December, 27-5, while the Quakers won their match last Saturday, 21-11. Yale has soundly defeated league foes Cornell (26-6), and Columbia (19-13) so far in '97-'98. In last week's win over the Lions, Yale's foilers lost, 10-6, but the epees crushed Columbia, 13-3. Regardless of the score break-down, Quakers coach Dave Micahnik maintains that "Yale has a stronger foil [than epee]. They go six people deep for their four spots." The Elis' foil squad, led by junior Katharine Zuckerman and senior Alison Calabia, went 15-1 against NYU and swept Cornell, 16-0. Yale's epees are no slouches either, featuring a first team All-American in sophomore Whitney Anderson, and a first team All-Ivy pick in senior Sharon Katz. "They are definitely a strong team, especially Zuckerman and Calabia," Penn sophomore foil Amy Hozer said. "With their being an Ivy League opponent, there's already a big school rivalry." There is added emphasis on tomorrow's match with Yale because of the tight standings in the Ivy League this year. Penn already has an 0-1 Ivy record courtesy of a 16-16 tiebreaker loss to Princeton in December. While having this crucial league meet take place at home is a help for the Quakers, it does not really give the team more of a boost than last weekend's success already brought to them. "We really pulled together," said Hozer in reference to the Quakers' four straight wins last Saturday. Not to be taken lightly either, is the multi-meet Sunday at Temple. The Quakers fence Temple at 10 a.m., followed by Johns Hopkins and Fairleigh Dickinson at 90-minute intervals later in the day. Temple, much like the Quakers, is coming off of a successful weekend. In a multi-meet at Northwestern, the Owls went 6-1, including a victory over North Carolina. The Quakers' first win this year came over the Tar Heels by a score of 18-14. In 1996, the Owls lost 18-14 to the Quakers. Temple returns nine of 10 fencers, including senior foil Marisa Barnes-Hopkins who went 4-0 against Penn, from a 16-7 team a year ago. They will also feature a strong freshman foil in Jamie Beecher. "Temple is the strongest of the three [on Sunday]," Micahnik said. "I expect no worse than a split for the weekend, and three wins would be great." The Red and Blue has not faced Johns Hopkins in nearly 10 years, but since they last met, the Blue Jays have hired a new coach and have revamped their fencing style. The Quakers did not meet FDU last year, but won the match between the teams two years ago. "Last weekend's matches were confidence builders in any respect," Micahnik said. "Our attitude now is pretty good, and we're feeling ready."

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