'Dogs set to host pair of top five ranked foes Friday & Saturday

Friday, February 16

Fresno, CA

10:00 AM

Fresno State

No. 4 SMU

'Dogs set to host pair of top five ranked foes Friday & Saturday

2/14/2018 10:30:00 AM | Equestrian

Live Scoring (Both Days)

The Bulldog equestrian team welcomes a pair of top-five ranked opponents to the Student Horse Center this weekend for their final home meets of the season.

By: Savannah Stoeckle / Communications Student Assistant

FRESNO, Calif. - The Bulldog equestrian team welcomes a pair of top-five ranked opponents to the Student Horse Center this weekend for their final home meets of the season.

Fresno State (3-5) will match up with No. 4 SMU (5-1) on Friday and No. 5 Oklahoma State (3-3) on Saturday for Senior Day as the 'Dogs will honor their seven seniors.

Riding against the Mustangs on Friday will begin at 10:00 a.m. On Saturday against the Cowgirls, the teams will begin their warm ups and first ride immediately following the Senior Day ceremony set to begin at 11:00 a.m.

Admission and parking at the Student Horse Center are free of charge.

Last time out against the Mustangs and Cowgirls
Fresno State has not met up with either team so far this season. The Bulldogs and Mustangs faced each other twice last season with each team winning on its home turf. The 'Dogs, coming off of an exciting 10-10 (1458.0-1456.5) victory over then-No. 1 Baylor the day prior, were able to defeat SMU in Fresno, 10-9. The Mustangs had defeated the Bulldogs, 15-4 a week earlier in Dallas.

Also last season, Fresno State traveled to Stillwater, Okla. to face OSU for its final regular season competition of the year. The Cowgirls picked up a 14-5 victory.

Scouting the Mustangs
No. 4 SMU entered the spring season with an unblemished 5-0 record, but the Mustangs saw their first loss of the season to South Carolina, 12-7 on Feb. 3 to start the spring season.

SMU was ranked No. 1 in the equitation on the flat and equitation over fences events in an NCEA events ranking released on Jan. 16. SMU is no stranger to close matches this season as all five of the Mustangs' win have come by three points or less. This will only be the second road contest for SMU who defeated No. 10 UT Martin on Nov. 10.

Scouting the Cowgirls
Oklahoma State was ranked in all four events in the NCEA events ranking released in January checking in No. 3 for the reining, No. 4 in the horsemanship, No. 5 in the fences and No. 7 in the flat. OSU was the only Big 12 school to appear in all four categories.

The Cowgirls opened up their spring season hosting Auburn on Feb. 3. OSU earned three MOP honors, but fell to Auburn 10-8. On the road this season, Oklahoma State is 0-2 with their losses coming from SMU, 11-9, and South Carolina, 13-7.

The Cowgirls are lead by the freshman duo of Stephanie Helsen and Harley Huff. Each rider earned Big 12 Rider of the Month honors for the month of October. Helsen picked up the reining award while Huff earned it for the horsemanship. Huff was also named the horsemanship NCEA Rider of the Month for the same month.

Quick look at the Bulldogs
Fresno State is coming off of back-to-back road losses to then-No. 7 TCU, 15-5, and then-No. 4 Texas A&M, 12-6. The Bulldogs did not appear in the latest NCEA Farnam rankings released on Tuesday for the first time this season, dropping from No. 6.

The Bulldogs earned three MOPs in their contest with Texas A&M as senior Rachel Williams in horsemanship, junior Alexandra Dirickson in equitation on the flat and sophomore Paige Barton in reining earned honors.

Fresno State will honor its seven seniors in advance of its meet with Oklahoma State on Saturday. Hunt Seat seniors include Kylina Chalack, Sierra Swaffar, Alex Peltier and Paige Pastorino while on the Western side the seniors are Alysa Frias, Rachel Williams and Taylor Dixon.

Senior Q&A's - Learn more about each of Fresno State's seven seniors
Feb. 6 - Kylina Chalack - Q&A
Feb. 8 - Sierra Swaffar - Q&A
Feb. 9 - Rachel Williams - Q&A
Feb. 12 - Alex Peltier - Q&A
Feb. 13 - Paige Pastorino - Q&A
Feb. 14 - Alysa Frias - Q&A
Feb. 15 - Taylor Dixon - Q&A

2017-18 Bulldogs
Equitation over Fences (17-20-1)
Kylina Chalack- 3-3-1
Sierra Swaffar- 5-3, 2 MOPs
Paige Pastorino- 3-5, 1 MOP
Natalie Wendt- 1-4
Alexandra Dirickson- 4-3
Hailey Livingston- 0-1
Dani Schneider- 1-1

Equitation on the Flat (21-15-2)
Paige Pastorino- 0-1
Dani Schneider- 1-1
Sierra Swaffar- 6-2, 2 MOP
Kylina Chalack- 3-2-1
Alexandra Dirickson- 4-4, 1 MOP
Natalie Wendt- 3-2-1, 1 MOP
Brooke Nelson- 4-3, 1 MOP

Horsemanship (14-21-3)
Katelyn Altenhofel- 1-3-1
Julia Kelly- 1-4
Rachel Williams- 3-4-1, 1 MOP
Taeya Harle- 6-2, 4 MOPs
Taylor Dixon- 1-6-1
Alexis Miller- 2-2

Reining (17-20-1)
Taylor Dixon- 3-4
Kara Gustafson- 1-4, 1 MOP
Shea Gilson- 4-4
Allison Nordvall- 1-4-1
Paige Barton- 7-1, 3 MOPs
Annemarie Morias- 0-1
Alysa Frias- 0-1
Hailey Robison- 1-1

"Just the Ticket to Build Our Community" – The Bulldog Scholarship Fund gives Bulldog alumni, fans and friends the opportunity to support Fresno State Athletics and the student-athletes who inspire them. For information about how you can support the Bulldog Scholarship Fund, please visit www.bulldogscholarshipfund.com or call 559-278-7160.