Dave Micahnik has spent 50 years in the Penn's fencing program -- first as a player, and now as the team's head coach.
In that time, Micahnik has learned how to overcome just about any obstacle.
This season, however, inexperience, injuries and an overall lack of depth are just a few of the obstacles that the Quakers must overcome in order to win the Ivy League.
Like the men's squad, the women do not have a single senior on the team. The young Quakers initially planned to turn to junior Katelyn Sherry for leadership.
Sherry has been the rock of the team for the past two years, earning All-America honorable mention in the sabre during both seasons and compiling a 51-8 record in the 2004-05 campaign.
But in December, Sherry broke her foot, forcing her out until the end of January at the earliest.
The setback has altered the general makeup of the team, forcing junior Jackie Schramm to switch from the epee to the sabre in order to compensate for the loss of Sherry.
The sabre, which was for many years Penn's strong point, has now become the biggest question mark.
"The sabre is definitely vulnerable right now," Micahnik said. "The epee and the foil are going to have to pick up the slack against most of the teams."
In the temporary absence of Sherry, junior Holly Buechel is serving as the team's interim captain.
"It's hard without Katelyn because she was really the 'mom' of the team," Buechel said. "Right now I'm just trying to be a role model for the freshmen -- we're going to need them to do very well this season."
Penn will rely heavily on Buechel, a first-team All-American and the anchor of the epee team, to secure wins to take some pressure off of the sabre.
According to Micahnik, the foil will be "excellent" this season, thanks in the large part to the addition of highly-touted freshmen Abby Emerson and Ilana Sinkin.
Both newcomers have plenty of fencing experience and recently returned from a national tournament in Houston.
There, Emerson placed seventh in the open competition, losing to former Olympian Anne Marsh and World Champion Emily Cross -- a sophomore at Harvard.
Despite its youth, Micahnik stressed that the team should be fine once the younger fencers become more acclimated.
"I think we'll be okay once we get through the early part of the season," he said. "As long as we can break even in the sabre, I think we have a good chance to win the league."
The team will make up for a lack of depth with talent.
"Top to bottom, this is a very balanced team," Micahnik said. "We have great fencers in every event."
Coming off last year's third-place finish in the Ancient Eight, Penn will have to contend with Harvard and Columbia, both of whom have been perennial powerhouses. The Crimson won the title last year.
Micahnik also noted that Princeton is on the rebound, having made significant improvements at sabre.
"There's a lot of uncertainty," he said. "It's impossible to predict what will happen and there's always a little bit of luck involved."
Having returned from winter vacation a week early to train, the team feels generally comfortable with the way in which it has practiced and is optimistic about the season.
"I think we're looking pretty good right now," Emerson said.
Buechel added that although the Quakers could have benefited from competing more before the start of the regular season, everyone is headed in the right direction.
"We're all working very well together," she said. "We'll definitely peak at the end of the season."
