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.
The University of Richmond men's lacrosse team picked up its first loss of the season, 6-8, against Virginia Tech this Saturday. The teams played in the E.
The University of Richmond women's basketball team struggled offensively and was unable to stop the Charlotte 49ers, and lost 64-55 Sunday at the Robins Center. The loss ended a four-game winning streak for the Spiders and was the last home game for seniors Ryann Dannelly, Sam and Rachael Bilney.
The University of Richmond men's basketball team trumped conference-opponent George Washington University, 73-64, in the Robins Center on Wednesday after trailing the Colonials for the majority of the game. With about six minutes left in the second half, sophomore Alonzo Nelson-Ododa made a three-pointer to give Richmond the lead for the first time since the beginning of the game. Richmond continued to build on that lead with several plays close to the basket by senior Greg Robbins. Coach Chris Mooney said that Robbins, who finished the game with 15 points, had played tremendously and understood how the team could gain and maintain the lead. Although Richmond tied the score in the last seconds of the first half, GW quickly regained the lead in the second, and scored 12 points to Richmond's three in the first four minutes. Mooney said that despite the team playing poorly for the majority of the game, it was a good sign his players were able to recover at the end. Robbins said that if the game had been at GW, he didn't think the Spiders would have been able to close out the win. The referees called 54 fouls in the game, including one technical on Mooney for arguing a call. "It's hard to get into a groove with a lot of fouls called," Robbins said.
The University of Richmond women's lacrosse team dominated American University on Feb. 27 to pick up its first win of the season. On a windy Wednesday afternoon in Robins Stadium, the Spiders won 20-8 against the Eagles.
After recovering from two close losses in Jacksonville, a strong early lead helped the Spiders take a sweeping victory against the Coppin State Eagles on Wednesday. Well-placed hits by the Spiders and poor playing on the field by the Eagles resulted in a 13-0 victory, putting the Spiders at 6-2 for the season. Returning sophomore Chris Bates made his second start of the season pitching and maintained his 0.00 ERA, not letting any hitters score a run.
University of Richmond Swimming and Diving team won its 11th conference title in 12 years at the A-10 Championships this weekend in Geneva, Ohio. The meet earned the Spiders its third consecutive A-10 championship, sophomore swimmer Anna Fetter said. The Spiders swept all five relays and earned 12 top finishes throughout the weekend, finishing with 737 points.
