The SMU equestrian team suffered defeat against the Auburn Tigers, 6-4, at BuckBranch Farm on Sunday.

“It was a great day out at BuckBranch,” SMU head Coach Haley Schoolfield said. “The weather was great and our very young team showed much improvement. We are looking forward to continuing to grow over the break and come out very strong next semester.”

The Mustangs were led by junior Jordyn Pettersen who earned MVP honors in equitation over fences.

Pettersen finished with a score of 81. The MVP honor was her third of the season.

The junior has posted a 6-0 individual record for the Mustangs, who are still looking for their first team victory of the year.

Pettersen’s previous MVP performances came against TCU where she finished with a score of 86 on the flat and Kansas State where she recorded a score of 83 over the fences.

Against South Carolina and Georgia, Pettersen also posted top notch performances. She won over the fences against both schools with respective scores of 79 and 75. Her scores this past weekend show that she is only getting better with time.

Junior Emily Gardner and senior Lauren Lieberman also earned points for the Mustangs over the fences to help SMU win the event total, 3-2.

Liberman is a true senior leader on the team and is coming off of a respectable junior campaign.

Last season, she finished with a 3-5 record in fences and received one MVP honor against San Diego State.

Gardner has also been consistent throughout the years for SMU. The junior averaged a score of 75.2 last season and won her match at the Varsity National Championships against No. 6 Oklahoma State as a freshman.

On the flat, Claire Wenholz earned one point for the Mustangs and won her matchup, 80-69. Auburn won the event, 4-1.

The Tigers won the meet with a final point total of 6-4. In the raw score, Auburn just barely had a higher point total than the Mustangs, 921-909.5.