No. 3 Georgia Rides to Victory Against No. 6 South Carolina

Saturday, October 5

Bishop, Ga

1:00 p.m.

University of Georgia

South Carolina

No. 3 Georgia Rides to Victory Against No. 6 South Carolina

October 05, 2019 | Equestrian

SCORE SHEET

BISHOP, Ga. --- The third-ranked University of Georgia equestrian team rode to a 14-5 victory against No. 6 South Carolina on Saturday afternoon at the UGA Equestrian Complex.

Three Bulldogs earned Most Outstanding Performance (MOP) honors for their rides against the Gamecocks. Senior Maddy Darst earned the honors in Fences after scoring an event-high score of 89. Senior Maddie Fiorante earned her first MOP honor with a career-best 76 on top of Peppy in Horsemanship, and in the final point of the day, junior Jordan Carpenter was honored after scoring a 70 in Reining.

"This was a great way to start the season," Georgia head coach Meghan Boenig said. "Coming into this season we wanted to make sure our preparation was extraordinary—whether that was at the scrimmages or competitions up to this point. That has helped us be much more honed in and consistent and willing to push things. South Carolina is a very good, competitive SEC team—this felt very nice."

Georgia (1-0, 1-0 SEC) jumped to an early lead, outscoring South Carolina (1-1, 0-1 SEC) 4-1 in Fences. Senior Kate Kramer earned the first point for the Bulldogs with a score of 87 to better Caroline Bald's score of 84, before junior Hayley Mairano used an 86 to defeat her opponent. Senior Ali Tritschler earned a point with a score of 81 and Darst earned the high score for the event with an 89 to top Alice Kass's 83.

Similarly, the Bulldogs added four points to their score in Horsemanship. Junior Lexie Lane and sophomore Sara Lewis earned scores of 74 and 75, respectively, to defeat their opponents who both scored a 69.5. Fiorante scored a 76 to edge South Carolina's Sloane Vogt's score of 75. The Gamecocks earned the next before, before sophomore Kaitlin Dierks used a 75 to grab the final point of the event.

The Bulldogs held an 8-2 lead after two events.

Georgia edged South Carolina in Flat, 3-2. Senior Grace Bridges led off with a 77 to earn a point for the Bulldogs, before the Gamecocks claimed the next two points. Mairano and senior Isabelle Heckler rode to scores of 78 and 81 to add to the Bulldogs' total.

The Bulldogs secured the win in Reining, 3-1. Senior Julia Spreng and sophomore Courtney Blumer contributed points for Georgia, before dropping a point to the Gamecocks. Senior Annabeth Payne pushed the following point with her USC opponent and Carpenter closed the meet with a 70-65 win.

The Bulldogs will be back in action on Oct. 25 when the Aggies of Texas A&M come to the UGA Equestrian Complex and again on Oct. 26 against Southern Methodist University.

HOW TO FOLLOW GEORGIA EQUESTRIAN: For complete information on Georgia equestrian, follow the team on its social media channels via @UGAEquestrian on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

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