Oct. 26, 2008

MANSFIELD, Texas – South Carolina earned three MVP rides on the day but could not capitalize on the strong efforts as they dropped a 12-7 decision against TCU at Fieldstone Park Sunday.

South Carolina won Hunter Seat 5-4 with Carly Babcock and Megan Massaro earning MVP honors in equitation on the flat and equitation over fences, respectively. Katie Grossnickle earned MVP honors in horsemanship to lead the Western team.

Massaro and Victoria Middleton rode to wins in equitation on the flat while Babcock rode to an 88-88 tie for her honor. Massaro edged Lauren Quiroz 74-72 while Middleton defeated Taylor Frederick 85-74 for the largest margin of victory. Babcock tied for the highest score of the day in her draw with Juli Skobel. Sarah Stephens also had a strong ride for Carolina with an 85 but fell by two points.

In equitation over fences, Massaro, Nicole Bourgeois and Eleanor Kunsman all tallied wins for the Gamecocks. Massaro held an 84-82 advantage over Jessica Hagen for her MVP ride. Bourgeois had a 77-66 victory while Kunsman recorded a 70-67 win to give Carolina a 3-2 edge over fences.

It was a difficult day on the Western side as TCU earned 4-1 advantages in both horsemanship and reining. Grossnickle earned horsemanship MVP honors courtesy of her 74.5-68.5 victory over Kelly Morris. Amy Biffle had Carolina’s lone win in reining at 69-67.

“It was a better day today in some ways,” South Carolina head coach Boo Major said. “The Hunter Seat team won and both Megan Massaro and Carly Babcock were named MVP’s. In Western we had a rougher day. Katie Grossnickle continues her winning ways and was named MVP so we were happy with that. We will continue to get better, we haven’t gotten it all together yet. It’s better to make mistakes early in the year and improve as the season progresses. We are seeing improvements even though our scores may not show it. Now we must prepare for Georgia and are looking forward to our first away S.E.C. meet.”

The Gamecocks are now 2-2 in the Hunter Seat, 1-3 in Western, and 1-3 overall. Carolina has two weeks off before competing again when they travel to Athens, Ga., for a Nov. 8 matchup against S.E.C. rival Georgia.