Davis, Calif. – The UC Davis Equestrian Team dropped the Saturday meet against Georgia by a score of 9-11. In a matchup between two top-10 ranked teams, the Aggies were just barely edged out and now drop to 2-2 on the season.
Carly Sweeney shined yet again for the Aggies as she earned her second straigh MOP with a score of 88 on Fences. Another Aggie to highlight was Amber Nusser who picked up her first MOP honor of the year as she recorded the best Reining ride score of the day with a 72.
In what was a back and forth battle for the entire day, the Aggies left the first half of the meet tied at 5-5 as they entered Flat and Reining. Even with the strong effort from UC Davis, the Georgia Bulldogs had a response for every ride and was able to hold off a late Aggies surge in Reining to secure a 3-2 victory for the Bulldogs. During a meet where each head to head ride had major implications, it came down to the consistency of Georgia being able to put together strong individual performances in comparison to the Aggies who were slightly better as an overall team. The final score for the meet was in fact in the favor of the Aggies 1534.5-1524, but the difference makers for Georgia were Grace Himes and Sophia Pilla who each picked up MOP's with Himes receiving hers in Horsemanship, and Pilla earning it in Flat.
Even with the defeat, UC Davis is sure to remain right in the mix with the top-10 and may even move up rankings as both of their losses have come against top-5 ranked squads.
There were many positives to take away from the meet with eight different Aggies earning points, while Sierra Gundersen showed out and picked up two points competing in Fences and Flat.
Aggie point earners today included Keely Laughlin, Marin Gilliland, Ruby Nahum, Maddie Gregory, and Macey Newkirk, along with the other aforementioned members.
UC Davis will look to bounce back and keep trying to break the program record for highest national ranking when they compete in yet another double-meet in Dallas, Texas as they take on TCU and Delaware State on Friday, Nov. 11, and Saturday, Nov. 12. The Aggies don't return home to the UC Davis Equestrian Center until Feb. 2.
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