Strong performances by the women's tennis freshmen helped the Spiders beat the East Carolina Pirates 4-3 on a chilly Thursday afternoon at the University of Richmond. Richmond started off the day with two doubles victories and held off the Pirates throughout the rest of play.
With a string of singles wins, the University of Richmond men's tennis team overcame doubles defeats to beat George Mason University April 3. On a sunny, but cold Wednesday afternoon, the Spiders won against the Patriots 5-1.
Senior Jacob Mayers starred in the University of Richmond baseball team's victory over The College of William and Mary Tuesday, providing pivotal pitching and offense. The Spiders beat the Tribe 5-4 in a walk-off win in the bottom of the ninth inning, as a result of Mayers' game-winning double.
The Miami Heat's win streak came to an end last week against the Chicago Bulls. The team's 27 straight wins were the second most in NBA history, only fewer than the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers with 32.
The men's track and field team raced against the dying of the light Friday and Saturday in its final home meet as a program, the eighth annual Fred Hardy Invitational at Robins Stadium. In a meet of more than a dozen colleges and featuring many former Olympians, the Richmond men narrowly missed winning two events: the 3,000 meter and 4-x-800-meter relay.
University of Richmond's men's lacrosse team regained a solid lead during Saturday's game against George Washington University after returning from halftime one goal behind the Colonials. Stronger playing during the third quarter in particular allowed the Spiders to advance from a 7-7 tie and close with a 14-7 win. Most of the year, the team typically has struggled to maintain its endurance in the third quarter, senior Clay Palmer said. But the Spiders silenced the Colonials as soon as freshman Greg Stern delivered an underhand shot while he was falling down, which brought the score to 8-7. From that point on, the Spiders kept up a strong defense and continued to make goals until the final 7 seconds, with Palmer making the last shot. The win was significant for Richmond because the team had lost five of its six prior games, Palmer said. The game also marked an important victory for the Spiders because both teams are currently in the South Eastern Lacrosse Conference, which is part of the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association league, Palmer said. "With the win this weekend, we are now 3-1 in the SELC, and if we continue to win in the SELC, we will go to our conference tournament in Atlanta," he said. Last month, the athletic department announced that the men's lacrosse team had joined the Atlantic Sun Conference as an affiliate member, starting in the spring of 2014, when the team officially shifts into an NCAA Division I sport. Despite the slow start during Saturday's game, Richmond was confident that the team could deliver during the second half, given the smaller number of players on George Washington's team. "They had a small bench so we knew that if we played a fast game, we'd tire them out, and that's what happened in the second half," coach Glenn Carter said. Nevertheless, freshman Matt Potolicchio said that the Colonials had a great performance during the first half.
Scouts and coaches from NFL teams across the country attended Spider Football's Pro Day on March 19 in Robins Stadium. The athletes that participate in Pro Day have exhausted their eligibility, since they either graduated in December or will be graduating in May, coach Danny Rocco said.
The Spiders women's tennis team won 5-0 against the Binghamton University Bearcats on Wednesday. Before the match, head coach Mark Wesselink said competing against the Bearcats would be a good test because the team had always had a strong program and were well coached. Despite the Bearcats' presumed toughness and the cold weather, the Spiders quickly secured both doubles points with wins by sophomore Melissa Kandinata and freshman Katya Salas and the freshman duo Anna Abadias and Emily Gitman. "I think [the doubles win] was a combination of us playing well and being able to pressure them to miss a lot of shots," Kandinata said of her match with Salas. In singles play, senior Alex Smyth, freshman Emily Gitman, Kandinata and Salas finished out the match for a Spider overall win. Smyth, who won her singles match 6-0, 6-0, said the young team was improving a lot, specifically in doubles. In general, it is important to win doubles matches as quickly as possible to get the points because it keeps the positive momentum going, she said. Smyth and partner Elizabeth Sims have played four matches together and said they were still working on getting comfortable with each other. "Those two contribute points and leadership that can't be replaced," Wesselink said.
Changes in Atlantic 10 membership will shift this summer as four teams leave for other conferences, while George Mason University will join the University of Richmond in the 13-team league. It was announced at a press conference Monday that the school would join the A-10 about a week after it was confirmed that Xavier University, Butler University, Temple University and the University of North Carolina-Charlotte would depart from the conference. A-10 Commissioner Bernadette McGlade said that the announcement of George Mason's admittance into the league was not necessarily linked to announcements from the departing teams. Richmond men's basketball coach Chris Mooney said he had heard rumors of the team joining the league last year when the conference had expanded. Richmond Athletic Director Keith Gill said the departure of several teams and the addition of George Mason would affect conference play, but it would be difficult to determine which sports would be impacted more. "George Mason will be strong in some sports and not the others," he said.
After opening the season by winning 14 of 17 games, the University of Richmond baseball team has recently found it harder to win, as the level of competition has increased and key players have been unable to play because of injuries or illness, coach Mark McQueen said. The team dropped its first in-conference series to UNC Charlotte last weekend, winning only one of three games, without contributions from starters Bret Williams (first base) and Mike Small (shortstop), or from pitchers Jon de Marte and Ryan Cook. Senior Williams missed the entire series after contracting mumps, which McQueen said was a big blow to the team's offense, and junior Small played in only one game because of illness.
The University of Richmond men's lacrosse team lost to Pittsburgh 15-17 after a tough second half on Saturday at the intramural fields. The first half ended with Richmond leading 6-5.
After losing three doubles matches, the men's tennis team won two of its singles matches and ultimately lost to Atlantic 10 conference rival George Washington University in a 5-2 decision on Saturday. Seniors Sebastien Fauchet and Jesse Feder won 7-5, 6-4 and 6-2, 6-4 respectively, giving the Spiders their only victories of the day. Richmond has only six healthy players currently, so each player had to play an eight-game doubles match and then a best two-out-of-three sets singles match immediately after.
The University of Richmond men's lacrosse team lost 8-11 to Sonoma State Wednesday night. The teams played at Robins Stadium, and about 20 Richmond students came to watch the game. Richmond's head coach, Dan Chemotti, said despite the loss, the team played with energy and excitement throughout the game. "I thought Clay Palmer and Danny Driscoll, our captains, had us ready to play," Chemotti said.
Forward Terry Allen, freshman, led Richmond to a 79-55 defeat of Duquesne Saturday night, with a career-high 17 points, making all seven shots he took from the field. The Spiders scored the first nine points of the game, beginning with junior guard Cedrick Lindsay's three-pointer on the first possession, and never relinquished the lead. Senior guard Darien Brothers led the Spiders with 11 first-half points, including two three-pointers, which brought him to 200 three-pointers for his career.
Contact photographer Chrissy Wengloski at christine.wengloski@richmond.edu
The Richmond baseball team kept its winning streak alive against Old Dominion University on Tuesday with two strong offensive innings and the best outing of freshman relief pitcher Peter Bayer's college career, coach Mark McQueen said. The 7-6 win was the Spiders' fifth straight victory and advanced their season record to 10-2. After a rocky start for junior pitcher Chris Bates, who gave up two home runs in the first and second innings, he settled in during the later innings and allowed only one additional hit and three walks with five strikeouts. Bayer took over for Bates in the top of the fifth, and allowed only one earned run on three hits and two walks.
The University of Richmond men's basketball team kept pace with rival VCU for 37 minutes of Wednesday night's game, but a Rams 14-3 run in the last three minutes of the game proved to be too much, and the Spiders lost, 93-82. With the score tied at 79 with a little less than three minutes left in the second half, the VCU "Havoc" defense began to pressure the Spiders into turnovers, and the Rams capitalized on them. The Rams' physical play affected the Spiders' offense for most of the game, but they did not seem to be flustered until the final minutes.
Despite the cold weather and rain, the University of Richmond women's lacrosse team picked up its second win of the season against Old Dominion University, 23-7, Tuesday in Robins Stadium. After ODU scored two goals in the first five minutes of the game, the Spiders responded with a 9-0 run.
Contact photographer Chrissy Wengloski at christine.wengloski@richmond.edu
The Spiders baseball team extended its winning streak to four games and completed its second sweep of the season against the Wagner Seahawks with solid pitching and strong offense last weekend. Sophomore Jon de Marte pitched the first game of the series Friday, which the team won 8-6, and allowed three runs through five innings. The second and third innings were tough for de Marte, he said, especially the third when he walked three hitters in a row.
