It is the only true Ivy League duel of the year. The seven schools with fencing programs met in New Haven, Conn. on Sunday for Day 1 of the Ivy League Round Robin. The Quakers men and women entered with a combined 18-2 record, and they continued to bout well, defeating both Harvard and Yale.

More than anything, this weekend's opening Ivy League games were a chance for the Quakers to rebound from a rough first half of the season. And rebound they did. In the two games this weekend, Penn beat Harvard and Dartmouth on the glass by a combined 88-63.

The annual Saint Joseph's-Villanova matchup is always the most emotional Big 5 game, and for the past two years it provided the most convincing argument that the Wildcats were the city's best team. The Holy War was no less consequential this year, and the result was a clear reflection of the Big 5's new balance of power.

One is a licensed surgeon wearing scrubs and a black wig. One is 6-foot-5, 320 pounds and has calves the size of tree trunks. One was described as the "biggest, fattest, nastiest pig" that Philadelphia sports radio personality Al Morganti has ever seen.

It was a nightmarish few minutes for Penn, but the ending was as good as anyone could have dreamed. The Quakers had just seen a 16-point advantage vanish in only 12 minutes. Down by two with 6.5 seconds on the clock, Dartmouth had one last opportunity to complete a miracle comeback.

Ahead for nearly the entire game at Harvard on Friday, Crimson guard Lindsay Hallion stole an inbounds pass to set up an Emily Tay jumper with 14 seconds left.

After a gutsy come-from-behind win against Princeton last Wednesday, the women's squash team showed no sign of a letdown in a doubleheader against a pair of upstart squash programs on Saturday. In its first year as a varsity program, George Washington was doomed from the start.

Injuries and illness could not stop the men's and women's tennis teams from earning victories this weekend. But they eventually took their toll on the men, who after winning against Georgetown on Saturday fell in a contested battle with Old Dominion, 4-3, one day later.

It ended up as a typical weekend of Ivy League basketball, with everything that entails. Sparse crowds, bad defense, bad offense, terrible officiating and Penn and Princeton winning. How refreshing. With all the forces rippling through the conference - the rise of peers like the Patriot League; coaching transitions at Harvard, Princeton, Brown and Penn; fear of a league stratified by financial aid - it was not unreasonable to think that this season might mark a turning point in a new era, or at least a new balance of power.

If Friday's Ivy League tipoff against Harvard was any indication, this season is going to be a fight. The Crimson scratched and clawed - and even wrestled - for 40 minutes, but it wasn't enough to give Penn its first home Ivy loss in four years. The Red and Blue used a 20-point effort from Tyler Bernardini and a 15-point, nine-rebound, four-assist performance from Brian Grandieri to hold off Harvard, 73-69.

Two rounds into its match against No. 21 Maryland on Saturday at the Palestra, the wrestling team found itself down 9-0. It looked like the rout was on. But the Quakers battled back, tying the game at 16 going into the final match. And in that match, it was all Quakers, as sophomore 125-pounder Rollie Peterkin dominated his opponent 6-0, leading the Quakers to a 19-16 upset win.

One week after suffering a two-point loss to Navy, the women's swim team had extra motivation in its final dual-meet before Ivy Championships. "The goal of the meet was to take the frustration of losing to Navy to fuel our race against West Chester," said co-captain Megan Carlin.

Boy did the women's basketball team need that break. After stumbling through a horrendous December and first half of January, during which Penn lost ten straight games, the Quakers (3-13, 0-1 Ivy) are wrapping up their two-week layoff. And the team had no shortage of things it needed to improve.

The spring season for tennis is starting with a bang. With two big wins against Drexel and Saint Joseph's under its belt, the men's tennis team has established a high benchmark for this afternoon's match against Georgetown. The Quakers will have a quick turn-around when they travel to face Old Dominion on Sunday, but they won't be overlooking the Hoyas.

Forget the Florida trip. Forget the Big 5. Forget Loyola. Forget North Carolina. The real season starts today. And it's a late start, to be sure. Harvard's trip to the Palestra tonight will mark the first time that the Quakers (5-12, 0-0) have ever opened their Ivy League season in February.

After all the glory of Wednesday - when Penn won five straight games to topple its arch-rival, No. 1 Princeton - it's back to business as usual for the women's squash team. On Saturday, the Quakers (8-0) will host their final two home matches of the seasons, taking on unranked George Washington and No.

In the past, Penn might have overlooked a Dartmouth squad coming off a nine-win season and picked to finish dead last in the Ivy League preseason poll. Not this year, though. For one, Quakers coach Glen Miller doesn't put any stock in Dartmouth's preseason ranking.