UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.– After opening the 2020-21 season at the Ohio State Invitational, Penn State men's and women's fencing head coach Wes Glon and the Nittany Lions are looking forward to continuing to compete and improve.
"Considering that our team was not at full strength and the different circumstances that we faced, I think we did okay," said Glon.
Due to coronavirus protocol, the Nittany Lions traveled to Columbus with a shorter bench than usual. While Glon is proud of how the teams performed, he's looking forward to having his whole team healthy and ready to fence soon.
"I think with the full squad, we will have much better chances to beat teams like Notre Dame," said Glon. "At this moment, we did the best we could against them. They're a strong team and they were at full strength this weekend."
The Penn State men's and women's teams dropped their duals against Notre Dame on both Saturday and Sunday of the meet.
Despite not having some key fencers compete at the Ohio State Invitational, Glon said that he discovered some new stars on the team: the freshmen.
"Kateryna Chorniy (Kyiv, Ukraine) and Samantha Catantan (Quezon City, Philippines) have adapted really well to our team and they were the stars of the meet," said Glon. "It's very unusual that two freshmen are leading the pack, but they fenced very well and we are so happy for them."
For Glon and the rest of the team, the biggest obstacle so far this season has been the coronavirus pandemic affecting team practices.
"We had a lot of ups and downs individually this weekend," said Glon. "With more practice, we'll see more consistency between matches from individual fencers. Hopefully we can practice as a full team without any more disruptions this month before Temple."
"I know that [the pandemic] is an obstacle for everyone right now, but because everything from practices to player participation has been so uncertain, it's been really difficult."
Despite the challenges that the team has faced this season, Glon and the Nittany Lions are still looking forward to competing at Temple on February 21.
"I'm looking forward to fencing against Temple because they're a strong team," said Glon. "Another team I'm looking forward to seeing is the NJIT men's fencing squad. They're a very strong, very respected team too."
In order to get Penn State ready for their dual meet at Temple, Glon is continuing to stress the importance of staying socially distant and healthy to his team.
"If our team stays healthy these next few weeks, I am confident that we will have a good meet at Temple and I'm looking forward to the NCAA Championships," said Glon.
