Last weekend the Wildcats left the Chicago doldrums for sunny California, where they spent a five-day stint filled with fencing, fans and family.

“It kind of made me question why I came to Chicago for school,” joked senior sabreist Lauren Dunn, a Sacramento, Calif., native.

Northwestern, expected to sweep competition, did just that. The Wildcats beat Stanford 19-8 in Thursday’s Bay Area dual meet and followed with a 4-0 record Saturday at California — San Diego.

But for some of the Cats, the weekend included more than fencing.

Several members of Dunn’s family, including her mother and stepfather, made the trip to Palo Alto, Calif., on Thursday. Sophomore sabreist Mai Vu’s parents flew from New York and her aunt and uncle, who live near Stanford, came to the meet.

Christina and Natalie Wang, though, were a little closer to home, having lived about 30 minutes away from Palo Alto. The Wangs’ family took the team out for lunch Thursday.

“It was nice to show people around the place I lived,” said Natalie Wang, a freshman foilist.

When it was fencing time, though, it was a different story for the Wang sisters.

“It was really nerve-racking at first,” said Christina Wang, a junior foilist. “When I first stepped up onto the strip, I was definitely a little stiff.”

“It was (more) nerve-racking being in my home,” Natalie Wang said. “I don’t think my parents (were) a factor.”

But both the Wangs said they settled in and were able to enjoy a surprisingly raucous fencing crowd that was helped by the unorthodox setup of the meet — two teams, bleachers and a lot of fans.

“It reminded me of a basketball game,” Natalie Wang said.

And the crowd wasn’t just a Stanford crowd. More than 10 former NU fencers who live in the area cheered the Cats to victory, including former All-America epeeist Michelle Schaffner, a 1998 alum.

“That’s how it should be when we have home meet,” senior foilist Julia F