NCEA Action: Week of 11/2/15

[source: NCEA]

No. 3 Baylor EQ Defeats Defending National Champion South Carolina

The No. 3 Baylor Equestrian team (6-1, 2-1 Big 12) defeated No. 6 South Carolina (2-3, 0-2 SEC) Friday afternoon by a score of 16-3 at the Willis Family Equestrian Center.

“Great win today,” Baylor head coach Ellen White said. “Overall, our girls were fantastic. It’s always good to come back home. We were on the road a while and had some tough matchups, so it’s good to be able to come back home and regroup, especially with a win like this.”

This score matches the Gamecocks’ worst loss in program history, a 16-3 loss at Oklahoma State on October 27, 2007.

Baylor got off to a strong start with a 3-1 win in equitation on the fences. The Bears then followed with a 5-0 sweep of flat to make the score 8-1 at the end of Hunt Seat competition.

In the Western arena, Baylor took horsemanship, 4-1, before finishing off the Gamecocks with a 4-1 victory in reining.

Texas A&M Upsets No. 2 Auburn

The No. 5 Texas A&M Equestrian team upset the No. 2 Auburn Tigers 11-8 at home on Friday in the Hildebrand Equine Complex. The Aggies improve to 4-1 on the season and the Tigers fall to 3-1 on the year.

The Aggies got off to a quick start, defeating Auburn 3-2 in equitation over fences. After being granted a re-ride, freshman Rebekah Chenelle took the first point of the event 86-79. Sophomore Alex Desiderio, the recently-crowned October SEC fences rider of the month, took her point with a narrow 84-82 victory over Auburn’s Ashley Foster. Both senior Marlena Parker and junior Haley Webster were edged by one point in their rides; Parker lost 77-76 and Webster lost 81-80. Sophomore Rachel Hake wrapped up the event with an 89-76 MVP performance, her first of the season.

The western competition began with horsemanship, which the Tigers took 3-1. Sophomore Avery Ellis had a strong showing with a 74 but was narrowly defeated by Auburn’s Sarah Miller, 75-74. Junior Kaci Fisher tied her opponent at 72.5, resulting in a cancellation of the point. After being granted a re-ride, senior Logan Pluhar turned in a 75.5 to defeat her opponent, scoring the Aggies only point in the event.

The Aggies concluded hunter seat action with a win in equitation on the flat, 3-2. Senior Marlena Parker and Alex Desiderio looked identical in the arena, each of them defeating their opponents 87-78. Senior Hannah Williams looked just as good, besting Auburn’s Hayley Iannotti 84-78.

The teams were tied 7-7 through three events with only the reining competition remaining. The Aggies stepped up under pressure, nearly sweeping the Tigers 4-1. Junior Sarah Kate Grider scored the event’s first point with a 73-71 win over Auburn’s Betsy Brown. Event MVP senior Hannah Jechow recorded a 72.5 to edge her opponent by half a point. Senior Ashley Dotson provided the event’s highest score, a 74.5 good enough to beat Auburn’s strongest showing, a 73.5 by Haley Munger. Logan Pluhar scored the final Aggie point with a ride of 71.

New Mexico State Defeats South Dakota State

The NM State equestrian team used a 4-0 victory in horsemanship to top South Dakota State 9-7 on Friday in Dover, Del.

The Aggies blanked SDSU as Hallie Padilla, Rianna Storey, Morgan Matzdorff and Katlynn Crine each captured a point in Horsemanship. Padilla and Matzdorff collected scores of 73.5, while Storey garnered a 76 and Crine racked up a 74.5. Storey was named one of the two MOPs of the competition.

Jaimie Story and Kimberly Ferrante both earned a point in reining with scores of 67 and 69, respectively, as NM State tied South Dakota State 2-2 in the event. Ferrante earned the second MOP of the competition.

Karianna Knezevich and Chelsea Brady collected points to draw 2-2 with SDSU in equitation over fences. Knezevich earned a score of 75, while Brady had a 73. Cori Cromwell had a score of 67 to garner NM State’s lone point in equitation on the flat as the Aggies fell 3-1 in that event.