M&W Tennis

[SFspidur]

Interesting...Barrick will now be director of tennis in charge of both programs, with Jacob and Emily Dunbar as associate head coaches for both programs. Looks like Wesselink will be sticking around as a volunteer assistant coach for the women, while former Randolph Macon player Grant Sarver has been brought on as an assistant for the men.

New Leadership Structure Announced For Spider Tennis - University of Richmond Athletics

RICHMOND, Va. – The University of Richmond Vice President and Director of Athletics John P. Hardt announced a new leadership structure for Spider tennis afte...

richmondspiders.com

 

[Ferrum Spider]

More than a few schools have been doing this format with having a director of tennis. I don't think it will do much for the men's program until they get more scholarships, but I think this is a step in the right direction for the women's team. I like Barrick as a coach. Though I could of sworn Grant was coaching for the men's team this past season as an assistant?

 

[SFspidur]

You're right...Sarver, was this past year (and maybe the previous year too?), and looks like he's gone. I don't follow tennis closely enough.

They've updated the site since I first posted to remove him from the 2022–23 staff listing.

 

[32counter]

So let me get this straight-We have a Coach that coaches the coaches.Is that how it works.Maybe CM will eventually become Director of UR basketball for Mens and Womens.

 

[SFspidur]

The 4-seed Spider women have advanced to the semis of the A-10 tournament in Orlando, knocking off 13-seed St. Joe's 4–0 yesterday and 5-seed GW 4–1 this morning.

Crazy one just ended...top-seed VCU went up 3–0 on 9-seed SLU with the doubles point and a pair of quick straight-set singles matches, but SLU battled back to win three singles matches to tie it up. The deciding match finished with at least three straight game breaks to push it to 6–6 and a tiebreaker where VCU ultimately got the win, so it will be Spiders vs. Rams tomorrow for a spot in the finals.

On the men's side, the 2-seed Spiders fought through a rain delay yesterday to take out 10-seed Fordham 4–0. They've got 6-seed Dayton in the semis later this afternoon.

 

[Ferrum Spider]

Pretty wild on the women's side. Hard to pull upsets in team tennis, but hoping the women are up for the challenge. As for the men's side, uphill battle they make it to the finals. VCU's tennis team is the real deal. Really wish we fully funded the scholarships on the men's side. Believe the only team that doesn't in the A10.

 

[SFspidur]

Spider men lost a tough one to Dayton, 4–3.

UR had defeated the Flyers 4–0 in a regular season match on the Westhampton courts.

Spiders end Season in A-10 Championship Semifinal Match Against Dayton - University of Richmond Athletics

ORLANDO, Fla. – After dropping the doubles point, the University of Richmond Men's Tennis team rallied back to a 3-3 score line but fell just short to No. 6 Dayton

richmondspiders.com

 

[SFspidur]

Ladies put up a good fight against VCU, but fell 4–3. Doubles point was the difference.

 

[SFspidur]

Time to revive this thread for the 2024 A-10 championships!

After beating 9-seed GW yesterday, the 8-seed women Spiders scored a huge comeback upset today to take down top-seed VCU, 4–3, and advance to the semis tomorrow against 4-seed Fordham.

The 2-seed men open play tomorrow against 7-seed Bona. VCU is also the top seed on the men's side.

 

[Eight Legger]

Suck it, lambs and your mercenary European tennis team! Have a nice flight home, losers!

 

[Ferrum Spider]

Suck it, lambs and your mercenary European tennis team! Have a nice flight home, losers!

If you think Mooneys track record vs. VCU is awful, dont look at the tennis history between the two.

Really wish our mens team had the full allotment of scholarships. The fact were the only school that offers 1 while the rest the conference all has it(4.5), and finish 2nd most seasons is impressive. Had no idea the womens was 8th which is pretty bad considering they're fully funded, but glad to see them clap the sheep. Really impressive considering they lost 6-1 earlier in the year. VCU was missing their #2, but either way nothing to sneeze at.

 

[SFspidur]

Spider men cruise by Bona, 4–1, to reach the semis tomorrow against either Dayton or Davidson.

Spider women play in their semi at 5:30 today.

 

[urfan1]

Suck it, lambs and your mercenary European tennis team! Have a nice flight home, losers!

Careful 1 of 9 men non-US, but 6 of 9 women non-US

 

[SFspidur]

Spider women just won a tough 4–2 match over Fordham to advance to the finals against 3-seed UMass tomorrow at 5:30.

 

[SFspidur]

The Spider men just fell to 3-seed Dayton in the semis, 4–0. The Flyers will face top-seeded VCU, who cruised by SLU.

 

[Ferrum Spider]

Watching the match currently. Spiders have the homefield advantage with the mens team in the cheering sectoin. Spiders break UMASS early on in doubles at 1 and 3 so an early advantage.

 

[SFspidur]

UMass takes the doubles point.

6–1 at 1
7–6 (7–2) at 3

At 2 they were just starting a tiebreaker when 3 finished to clinch the point for UMass.

 

[Ferrum Spider]

Right now too early but looks like
1 Is down a set but on serve 1-1 in the second.
2 up 5-2 in the first set
3 On serve in 5-5
4 On serve 4-4
5 Up 5-4
6 Up 4-3

Most games are in play, need to win 4 after falling in doubles. Hope the girls can outlast them, as they had a promising start in doubles before fading a bit.

 

[Ferrum Spider]

Currently down 2-0.
1. Lost in straight sets.
2. Up 1-0 (7-5) and on serve in the 2nd.
3. Down 1-0 (5-7) but up 4-1 (Spiders serving) in the 2nd. Looks to be heading to a 3rd set/tiebreaker
4. Down 1-0 (4-6) and on serve (2-2) in the 2nd.
5. Down 1-0 (7-6) Tough loss in tie break first set. On serve (up 1-0) in the 2nd.
6. Up 1-0 (6-3) and on serve (2-1) in the 2nd.
(Lost the doubles point)

Will have to see how these second sets turn out. If Spiders can pull out Ws at 2,6 (Looking good here) 3,4 and 5 singles are going to be the ones to watch. Although all lost the first set, showing signs of life in the 2nd at all slots.

 

[SFspidur]

UMass takes the title, 4–2.

 

[spiderstudent17]

Scrolling at older posts, led me to this one and think, "what's it going to take for our M&W tennis programs to get over the hump?". The Men's team only have 2 or 3 scholarships to split among everyone so I get that one at least to an extent, but the women's team is fully funded. How is VCU consistently so much better than everyone in the A10 at tennis? Our Men's and Women's team have a combined 2-37 record against them. And it doesn't look like it's going to stop anytime soon as VCU is building a state-of-the-art tennis facility as part of their athletic village: https://richmondbizsense.com/2024/0...egin-on-42-acre-athletic-village-this-spring/

Maybe I'm biased, but I would think selling our program would be pretty easy to recruits. In tennis, all it takes is 2-3 very good players and it can change the whole outlook of the program.

Since 2020, our women's team has recruited two, 5 star recruits and three, 4 start recruits: https://www.tennisrecruiting.net/team.asp?id=810&sessionid=39826E3C72F57A71

We've also recruited heavily internationally, like VCU has. I'll also show my ignorance here, but I would think sports like tennis or golf recruiting talent is a lot more important because of how individual the sport is and there's not as much coaching with team dynamics. For instance, UR basketball beat Kentucky a few years ago, even though Kentucky had all 5 star recruits because they didn't play well as a team compared to us. So with these team sports, recruiting players who fit the system as a team is as important as their star-rating or natural talent. Whereas in tennis, the players are all playing 1 vs. 1 or 2 vs. 2 against each other. So if we got 2-3 very highly talented players, we will instantly become contenders on a national stage. Becoming national contenders is hyperbolic to provide my point, but why can't we seem to do that to be the best in the A10 at least?

 

[SFspidur]

VCU recruits almost exclusively internationally and has for a long time, to great success. We did not for many years, as has been true in many of our sports where other schools have gone heavily into international recruiting, but we have stepped up in that regard with tennis more recently. Seems likely Barrick's stint coaching at VCU may have influenced that direction for us, and probably required buy-in from the administration.

While we made some decent upgrades to our facilities, they're still nowhere near national caliber. I haven't specifically looked, but I assume almost all top programs have indoor facilities available unless they're located somewhere with good weather year round.

Every other coach out there is also trying to sell recruits on what makes their school special, and I don't think we necessarily stack up well. There's the small school, strong academics angle, but we're not alone in that regard and it's definitely not what every recruit is looking for. Especially international students who might be looking for a larger university for chances at more diverse experiences.

 

[PASpider]

VCU recruits almost exclusively internationally and has for a long time, to great success. We did not for many years, as has been true in many of our sports where other schools have gone heavily into international recruiting, but we have stepped up in that regard with tennis more recently. Seems likely Barrick's stint coaching at VCU may have influenced that direction for us, and probably required buy-in from the administration.

While we made some decent upgrades to our facilities, they're still nowhere near national caliber. I haven't specifically looked, but I assume almost all top programs have indoor facilities available unless they're located somewhere with good weather year round.

Every other coach out there is also trying to sell recruits on what makes their school special, and I don't think we necessarily stack up well. There's the small school, strong academics angle, but we're not alone in that regard and it's definitely not what every recruit is looking for. Especially international students who might be looking for a larger university for chances at more diverse experiences.

I remember attending a coaches clinic with Paul Kostin and someone asked him about recruiting American players and he responded, “I don’t recruit American players.” It seems to have paid off for him.

 

[spiderstudent17]

I saw that we had the River City Tennis tournament at UR this past weekend and was curious and looked up VCU’s tennis roster. They only have 4 players listed on there. Is this right? I’m sure there were a lot of transfers leaving after their coach left after last season, but I would think they would’ve replaced them with incoming transfers or recruits. If so, would they have to forfeit courts 5 and 6 in order to compete? Could mean A10 tournament is open for other teams to win for the first time in awhile.

2024-25 Men's Tennis Roster - Virginia Commonwealth University

The official 2024-25 Men's Tennis Roster for the

vcuathletics.com

 

[Ferrum Spider]

With it being fall ball right now, its too early to tell. Willing to bet VCU would still perform well in the A10 with only 4 players. Cant imagine they won't have 6 come spring time.

 

[spiderstudent17]

Tough start for our men’s and women’s teams today playing strong teams in Virginia Tech and ODU.

 

[spiderstudent17]

With it being fall ball right now, its too early to tell. Willing to bet VCU would still perform well in the A10 with only 4 players. Cant imagine they won't have 6 come spring time.

Update. You were right and both the VCU men’s and women’s teams added players to their rosters for this spring.

 

[spiderstudent17]

Men’s team loses 7-0 to VCU. Frustrating that VCU only had 4 players on their roster in December and they seem to pick up a few guys on a short recruiting schedule to fill the team and continue to completely dominate. Honestly, don’t know if any team will win the A10 for tennis again if VCU can continue to reload like this every year.

StatBroadcast Mobile Stats

stats.statbroadcast.com

 

[Ferrum Spider]

Men’s team loses 7-0 to VCU. Frustrating that VCU only had 4 players on their roster in December and they seem to pick up a few guys on a short recruiting schedule to fill the team and continue to completely dominate. Honestly, don’t know if any team will win the A10 for tennis again if VCU can continue to reload like this every year.

StatBroadcast Mobile Stats

stats.statbroadcast.com

Apples and Oranges. If we fully funded the scholarships at UR, have no doubt would be far more competitive with VCU even without an indoor facility (Though we have access to several). The amount of international students the school attracts would make it very easy to recruit talented players. The fact we finish in the top 4 basically every year with only 1 scholarship when everyone else in the A10 gets 4.5 is pretty impressive if you ask me. Not sure how the new house settlement handles tennis/scholarships/roster size, but would love to see this program at least offer the bare minimum with regards to resources for the coaches/players.

 

[72Spider]

Nice win by the UR ladies yesterday in Williamsburg against the Griffinettes. Haven't done very well against them in the last 25 years (2-18) so nice pick-up.

 

[SFspidur]

The women beat VCU today, 4–2. First back-to-back wins over them in 20 years.

Think it's a combination of decent year for us and down year for them.

 

[SFspidur]

The women rolled Davidson today, 4–0, for their 7th straight win. It's their longest win streak since 2016 as they move to 12–6 overall and 4–2 in the A-10.

The men also stomped Fordham, 4–1, losing the doubles point but then winning four straight at singles to move to 9–7 overall and 2–2 in A-10 play.

 

[SFspidur]

Strong final weekend for both the men and women before heading to Orlando for the A-10 champs this coming week.

The men skunked St. Joe's 4–0 on Friday and topped Davidson 4–1 today to move to 11–8 and 4–2 in A-10 play. The women cruised to 4–0 wins over both St. Joe's and GW this weekend to close the regular season at 14–6 and 6–2 in A-10 play. That's 9 straight wins for the women and marks their most total wins in a season since also winning 14 in 2012.

 

[spiderstudent17]

Strong final weekend for both the men and women before heading to Orlando for the A-10 champs this coming week.

The men skunked St. Joe's 4–0 on Friday and topped Davidson 4–1 today to move to 11–8 and 4–2 in A-10 play. The women cruised to 4–0 wins over both St. Joe's and GW this weekend to close the regular season at 14–6 and 6–2 in A-10 play. That's 9 straight wins for the women and marks their most total wins in a season since also winning 14 in 2012.

What seeding do you think we’ll get? My prediction is a 3 seed for both the men’s and women’s teams.

 

[SFspidur]

Always tough to say since everybody doesn't play everybody, but I think you're probably right.

On the men's side, both Dayton and VCU are clearly a step above us and Dayton won 4–3 at VCU so they're probably #1 and #2 in that order. We beat Duquesne, Fordham, Joe's, and Davidson. We missed playing Mason (canceled), SLU, and Bona. Bona and SLU are absolutely awful (as in a combined 2–30), so no seeding threats there.

For Mason, the only differeing result among common opponents was that they lost to Fordham 4–2, while we beat them 4–1. We both beat Joe's and Duquesne and lost to VCU. So it does look like we should get the #3 seed.

On the women's side, we lost 4–1 to Fordham and 4–3 to UMass. Both were undefeated in A-10 play and their match against each other was canceled, so they should be the #1 and #2, I suspect in that order based on the margins they defeated common opponents by.

We defeated VCU, Davidson, GW, Duquesne, Joe's, and Mason. We did not face SLU, Rhody, Dayton, or Bona. Bona was 0–4 in A-10 play, SLU was 0–2. Dayton was 2–1, but their wins were over cellar-dwellars Bona and Joe's, and they lost to a Duquesne squad that we beat 6–1, so we should clearly be ahead of them. (To be fair, we were Duquesne's only A-10 loss, but their 5 wins were all over bad teams.)

So it comes down to Rhody, which went 3–2 with wins over GW, Mason, and Davidson, and losses to Fordham and UMass just like us. They lost 4–0 to Fordham and 4–2 to UMass, so I think we'll come in ahead of them for the #3 seed there as well.

 

[spiderstudent17]

3 seed for both men’s and women’s tournament.

 

[SFspidur]

Men vs Mason will be interesting since our regular season match with them got canceled. The respective Fordham results (and seeding of course) suggest we should have an advantage. But should we win, VCU will be a tough challenge in the semis, as they beat us 7–0.

Women should have little trouble with either Duquesne or Mason. UMass in the semis could be a battle. We lost to them 4–3...Spiders took the doubles point (2–0 and were leading in the third) and eventually it came down to a 3-set match at #4 singles that gave UMass the narrow win.