This Saturday, the Penn women's fencing team has the chance to extend its current five-match winning streak when it squares off against Temple, Rutgers and Harvard.
Rattling off five consecutive victories at the Brandeis Invitational on Sunday, the Quakers (7-2, 0-1 Ivy League) now have a chance to rebound from last week's conference loss to Yale against the Crimson (1-1, 0-1), another league rival.
While Temple and Rutgers are both formidable, the match against Harvard is key for Penn's Ivy League standings.
Harvard, noted for having three strong weapon squads, is usually one of the premier teams of the Ivy League.
The Crimson defeated the Quakers, 20-7, in last year's matchup.
"We'd like to set that right this year," Penn junior sabre Christina Verigan said. "I think we're going to be prepared."
"We are going to have to focus," captain Mindy Nguyen added. "Ivies are always strong."
While last week's heroics occurred in Massachusetts, the Red and Blue will be home for this weekend's bouts -- starting at 10 a.m. at Weightman Hall on Saturday.
The Penn fencers are poised for what will be their second home meet of the season -- the first was a loss to Yale on Feb. 2.
"How exciting," freshman sabre fencer Yael Miller said. "I'm excited for a home game."
While last weekend marked a weekend of highs and lows for Penn -- the Yale loss, followed by five wins -- the women's fencers are confident and back in the groove.
"I think we can beat Harvard pretty easily," freshman foilist Emanuelle Humblet said confidently. "We're going to beat them all."
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