Waco, Tex. - UC Davis bounced back from a defeat to No. 8 Baylor on Friday to take both Western events from Delaware State at the Willis Invitational in Waco, Texas but ultimately fell on multiple tiebreakers 1150.5 - 1119.5. 

"We knew going into this tournament we were going to have to ride smart and have clean rides," Head Coach Jessie Weisinger said. "There are definitely things to be proud of, but also areas to improve and things to clean up."

Saturday's action against Delaware State came down to the final Flat scores with the Jumping Seat riders the last to go after UC Davis built a lead thanks to a 3-1 win in Horsemanship and a 2-2 showing in Reining. 

Among the former category were Malena Palmer (70.5), Katie Flinn (73), and Sarah Finkel  picking up wins in Horsemanship while Kendal Scheiner (69) and Macey Newkirk (71) earned wins in Reining to give the Aggies a 5-3 advantage in the Western events over Delaware State. 

With the Aggies holding the overall lead, the Hornets came back to take Flat 3-1 and force an 8-8 tie. Fences ended earlier in the day in a 2-2 tie with Stephanie Don (73) and Ella Longo (60) getting wins there. 

Overall ties in the NCEA are broken using the Western equivalency formula, which takes the Western score for a team and multiplies it by 2.5. That number is then subtracted by 100 multiplied by the number of counted scores. Put more simply, the formula is (Western Score)2.5 - 100(Number of Scores)=Western Equivalency. 

UC Davis and Delaware both came out with the same Western Equivalency score of 602.5, leading to yet another tie breaker that takes a team's WE score and adds their Jumping Seat total to it. Using the second tiebreaker method, the Hornets prevailed 1150.5-1119.5. 

Though narrowly defeated on the team side, the Aggies came out with three of the four MOPs awarded between Delaware State and UC Davis. Sabin Marquardt's 77 was the high score in Flat and Flinn (Horesmanship) and Newkirk (Reining) also earned MOPs in the Delaware State. 

"I am extremely proud of our young western squad, they had a few mistakes against Baylor and were able to learn from those and apply them in their rides against Delaware State," Weisinger said. 

The Aggies began their two-day run at the Willis Invitational against host Baylor on Friday with Horsemanship and Reining against the Bears. It was Newkirk again who shined on Day 1, picking up a Reining win with a 67.5 but Baylor go on to take a 7-1 lead heading into the Jumping Seat events on Saturday morning. Sabin Marquardt started UC Davis off with a 76 in the first Fences ride of the day but the Aggies were shutout the rest of the way in Fences and Flat by the eighth-ranked Bears. 

Marquardt's 76 was the highest Fences score for a UC Davis rider across both days of competition. 

Over the course of two days of competition, the Aggies started nine new riders to this year's squad and Weisinger is hoping some of the experience gained this weekend will carry over when the team returns for its home opener. 
 
"They laid out some strong rides with several winning points and gained confidence that will help them as we get ready to face another strong team in OSU," she added. 

The Aggies return home and will not go back on the road until February as the team hosts No. 4 Oklahoma State on Oct. 26 and No. 9 Fresno State on Nov. 15 before the calendar turns over with a Jan. 31 date against No. 1 Auburn. 

AGGIE EVO
Established during the 2017-18 academic year, the Aggie EVO System is UC Davis Athletics' investment in the primary mission of preparing student-athletes for a successful "launch" after graduation.
 
Thanks to a collaboration of alumni, university resources, corporate partners, coaches and Student-Athlete Outcomes staff, all Aggies are guided over four years to acquire the skills, knowledge, opportunities and tools to better know and navigate the "World of Work" after graduating from UC Davis.
 
Follow the Aggie EVO system on Twitter and Instagram at @AggieEVO.
 
MARYA WELCH INITIATIVE
Named after the former physical education instructor, coach and Dean of Women who founded women's sports on the campus 25 years before the passage of Title IX, the Marya Welch Initiative for Women's Athletics provides comprehensive support for UC Davis' 16 athletics programs.

Through the support of the Marya Welch Initiative and its group members, student-athletes are provided the best possible opportunity to succeed inside the classroom, and in competition, through special project gifts and by increasing visibility and participation at women's events throughout the year.

All gifts to the Marya Welch Initiative are matched 1:1, doubling the impact on our women's programs.

To learn more about projects the Marya Welch Initiative is currently funding, like the Marya Welch Initiative on Facebook. Join this groundbreaking program by clicking here, contacting Assistant AD for Leadership Giving and Alumni Engagement Liz Martin at (530) 752-7326 or emartin@ucdavis.edu.
 
ABOUT UC DAVIS
Providing a small-town community feel while providing a world-class academic experience, UC Davis is home to more than 37,000 students and centrally located between San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, and the Napa Valley.
 
The No. 5-ranked public university in the nation, according to the Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education, offers nearly 100 graduate programs and more than 100 academic majors across four colleges and six professional schools, ranking among the world and nation's best in numerous disciplines, including veterinary science, agriculture, and plant and animal programs.