Three-for-one deals are never bad. That is what fencing fans get whenever they watch a match. Though a first time watcher or casual fan may have trouble noticing the differences, fencing’s three forms — sabre, epee, and foil — are all very nuanced.

Coach Slava Danilov, assistant coach for the men’s and women’s fencing teams, provides a unique spark to the program. Danilov, now in his fourth year with the Quakers, is part of an excellent staff that includes head coach Andy Ma and other assistants Adi Nott and Randall LeMaster. Men’s senior epee and captain Zsombor Garzo described Danilov in one phrase. “Extremely competitive.”

Several of the NCAA’s best men’s and women’s fencing teams met at the Penn’s Tse Center for the Philadelphia Invitational. Both of Penn’s teams had a successful couple of days, each notching several victories over elite opponents.

Penn fencing had an up and down weekend against some of the top fencing programs in the country.   The Quakers (11-4 for both men and women) had a busy weekend in State College, Pa. The men and women defeated North Carolina and Haverford but fell short to Columbia, Penn State, and Duke.

If the Quakers have all of their best athletes on the floor, we think the Red and Blue men will drive home as tournament champions. As for the women, closing the gap with Columbia might be a tall task, not to mention that the women have a harder field because Temple does not have a men’s team. But still, we expect the Quakers to improve on last year’s effort with a second-place finish here.

The wire-to-wire domination that Penn women’s basketball displayed en route to its third conference title in four years was impressive, but that wasn’t the only Penn team to bring home Ivy League glory in 2017. A pair of Penn programs continued the elite play they’ve shown in recent years, as both Penn men’s fencing and Penn women’s lacrosse took home shares of the Ivy League title.

Some members of the Red and Blue don the colors of their home country in the summer months. Sara Papp of Hungary, Nicole Wong of Singapore, and Michael Li of the United States are just a few of the Quakers who have had the honor of representing their national team.

Penn men’s and women’s fencing have aspirations for an Ivy League Championship, and they have the leadership to back it up, with the team captains at the forefront.

The Pittsford, NY native has previously served on the U.S. Junior National Team, and the Junior World Championship Team (2006). In 2011, she made the US Women’s Foil team. ESPN Magazine listed Nott among their recognized CoSIDA Academic All-American athletes in her junior year at Notre Dame.

Penn men's fencing freshman Michael Li might be new to the Red and Blue, but he's old to the sport.

After a deceptively short holiday break, Penn fencing prepares for its second tournament of the season: The Vassar Invitational.

Penn fencing's season began at the Elite Invitational this past week, where the Quakers beat out the majority of the competition with wins over North Carolina, Air Force, and Northwestern. As a team, they fought a close battle to Ohio State, the previous second-ranked school in the country, and fell by a slim margin where the men lost 15-12, and the women 18-9.

Wu earned second-team All-Ivy honors at the Ivy League championships.

With their seasons about to resume, here's all you need to know about Penn's winter sports teams' seasons so far. 

There are 35 international student-athletes at Penn with 19 different countries represented, ranging from Hong Kong to Egypt to French Guiana. We wanted to highlight some of the athletes that best exemplify the character international students give to the university. These are their stories.

On Sunday, Penn fencing closed out its season at the 2017 NCAA Fencing Championships at the Indiana Farmers’ Coliseum. The Quakers came home with an eighth-place finish, scoring 107 points in the co-ed team championship tournament.

On Thursday, March 23rd, senior sabre Dana Kong will begin her last fencing tournament as a Quaker. And, as she approaches her last time on the strip, she will get to make her debut on the collegiate fencing’s biggest stage. Kong is one of 11 fencers who will represent the Red and Blue at the 2017 NCAA Fencing Championships in Indianapolis.