CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Citadel rifle team will be back in action this weekend as the Bulldogs open their Southern Conference (SoCon) slate with a match at VMI on Saturday, Sept. 30.

Last weekend, the co-ed team went up against six nationally-ranked squads, included five-time defending national champion and No. 1-ranked West Virginia, in an NCAA Test Match hosted inside McAlister Field House. On Sunday, the Bulldogs posted a program-best 4554 aggregate score and also set a program record in the smallbore discipline with a 2254. The Bulldogs' performance last weekend has head coach William Smith excited to see even more improvement from his team this weekend against the Keydets.

"Practice this week matched the great scores from last weekend's match and that has me looking forward to another strong showing from our co-ed team this weekend at VMI," Smith said. "This will also be the first competition for our women's team this year and I'm ready to see how they look in outside competition."

Matches against VMI have held a little more meaning for the Bulldogs in recent years as the two military institutes have added a slightly different style of bragging rights to the rivalry. With the two competing against each other twice each year, the two teams will be also competing to keep the other's range flag.

"About eight years ago we lost a close home match to VMI. It was the first loss to them in a long time, so when they were leaving, I stopped their van and had their coach take down our range flag," said Smith. "Now it is at risk twice a season when we compete."

Last season, The Citadel co-ed team finished second behind the VMI men's team in the first match of the season at VMI while the Keydet women finished third and The Citadel women finished fourth. A few months later, the Bulldogs bounced back in a five-team match with The Citadel co-ed squad finishing third behind the nationally-ranked teams of the Air Force Academy and North Georgia, but ahead of both the VMI men and women.

This Saturday, the co-ed lineup will not change from last week's NCAA Test Match. The squad will be comprised of seniors Morgan Long and Colton Poole, juniors Allison Auten and Leah Fenwrick-Wallace, sophomore Alexander McAlear and freshman Max Brabston.

The women's team will feature senior Carli Cline, juniors Lauren Pringle and Shay Littlejohn and sophomore Tierra Price.

Last weekend, Brabston kicked off his collegiate career by leading the team with two strong performances on Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, he led the team with an 1142, including finishing 20^th in the smallbore with a 572 and 34^th in air rifle with a 570. He then turned around on Sunday and posted an 1155, with a 573 in smallbore and a 582 in air rifle. His smallbore score was the 10^th-best score of the day in the discipline and his air rifle score was 14^th.

Long finished Saturday with an 1124 (551 smallbore, 573 air rifle) and McAlear wrapped up Sunday with the team's second-best score of 1141 (564 smallbore, 577 air rifle).

For more information on The Citadel rifle team, follow @CitadelOlympic on Twitter or visit CitadelSports.com.