The Aggies go into their second of four straight road competitions after a solid victory over UT Martin. They head to Blythewood, South Carolina to take on the No. 9 Gamecocks and kick off 2016 SEC play.
“We had a good week of practice, correcting our mistakes that we made last weekend at UT Martin,” head coach Tana McKay told 12thman.com. “We know that South Carolina is a good team, and they are coming off a big win to start the year. I’m excited to see how the girls can compete in our first road SEC meet of the season.”
A&M faced South Carolina three times last season for a combined two wins and one loss. They defeated SC both at home and away during the regular season before the Gamecocks ended the Aggies’ SEC Championship run prematurely in an 8-11 defeat.
The focus will be on the Equitation on the Flat and Over Fences competitions, where the Aggies topped the Gamecocks in their first competition. Since then, South Carolina has outscored A&M 8-1 and 15-3, respectively. This will put pressure on sophomore Rebekah Chenelle, who earned MOP honors in Over Fences last weekend. Fans will also be on the lookout for junior Alex Desiderio, who competes in both of these competitions. She earned All-SEC Team honors in both categories last season and scored a match-high 78 in the Flat competition last weekend.
The Aggies dominated SC in the Horsemanship and Reining competitions in all three meets of 2015. A&M only conceded one Horsemanship title and outscored the Gamecocks 13 -2 in Reining competitions led by now junior and MOP-honored Madison Bohman.
The Aggies and Gamecocks faceoff at the One Wood Farm Friday, September 30th at 1 p.m. CST. Live stats can be seen on 12thman.com.
