Gamecocks to Face Georgia in SEC Semifinals
AUBURN, AL – South Carolina Equestrian (10-4, 3-3) is set to compete in the semifinals of the SEC Championship on Friday, March 27, at 11:00 a.m. ET. The Gamecocks (the No. 2 seed) will take on No. 3 seed Georgia (7-4, 3-3) at the Auburn University Equestrian Center. The meet will be streamed live on SECN+.
The Gamecocks will look to defend their 2025 title, when they became the first-ever four-seed to win the championship.
“Our team and coaches are viewing the SEC Championship as a build-up to the National Championship,” head coach Carol Gwin said. “We’ve worked very hard all year and had a very successful year, but it all counts when you get down to coming to SECs and Nationals. I think we’re riding well, and I think the coaches have the girls well prepared. We’ll see what happens tomorrow!”
NOTABLES
- The Gamecocks are 47-19-2 in Fences this season, with 10 MOPs. Amira Kettaneh is 9-4-1 with five MOPs, Natalie Jayne holds a 9-5-0 record with four MOPs, Grace Rabb is 12-2-0 with three MOPs and Alyssa Bauer is 10-4-0.
- Sarah Rabb leads the team with a 10-3-0 record in Flat this season and has won three MOPs. Kettaneh is 9-5-0 with six MOPs and Jayne is 10-3-1 with an MOP.
- Alexis Potts leads the Horsemanship crew at 11-1-2 with six MOPs. She has won five of her last six points. Carly Jenkins has an 11-3-0 record and Ruby Voortmeyer is 7-3-0.
- Olivia Cardi boasts an 8-4-2 record with two MOPs on the year.
LAST TIME OUT
South Carolina wrapped up the regular season with a doubleheader at home, defeating No. 10 SDSU 15-4 and Delaware State 17-3, where the Gamecocks honored 14 seniors at the conclusion of the final home meet.
The Gamecocks defeated the Jackrabbits 5-0 in Fences and 4-1 in Horsemanship to lead 9-1 at the half. South Carolina clinched the win with a 4-1 score in Flat and split the points 2-2 in Reining to finish the day. Natalie Jayne (Fences), Alexis Potts (Horsemanship) and Amira Kettaneh (Flat) took three of the four available MOPs for the Gamecocks.
Against the Hornets, South Carolina opened with 5-0 scores in both Fences and Horsemanship to sweep all the points in the first half. It was the first time the program completed a first-half sweep since 2013, which was also against Delaware State (March 1). The second half opened with similar momentum and a 5-0 sweep in Flat and closed with a 3-2 win in Reining. The win marked the tenth of the season, the most since the 2014-15 season.
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
South Carolina faced Georgia twice during the regular season and split the meetings. The Bulldogs took the first matchup 13-6 at the UGA Equestrian Complex (Oct. 24). Then-No. 5 South Carolina took the second meet 16-3 at home (Feb. 14), upsetting then-No. 1 Georgia.
The Bulldogs finished the regular season with a close 9-11 loss against Auburn at home to finish the SEC conference slate 3-3.
Georgia is the defending NCEA Champion, having won eight as a program. The seventh-seeded Bulldogs upset SEC foes Auburn and Texas A&M on their way to defeating SMU 12-8 in the championship (April 19).
FAN INFO
Fans are encouraged to follow along for in-meet updates on X and Instagram @GamecockEQ, and check out the SEC Championship Central page.
