Greetings Spiders!
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Hello from the Robins Center, where the volume of painting, testing, fixing, installing, refinishing, and more signals the imminent start of another Spider basketball season — the 54th in this great arena!
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BASKETBALL SEASON BEGINS
Even after more than a half-century of basketball in the building, the 2025-26 season promises to be the very best the Spiders have ever looked or sounded in the Robins Center. Richmond Athletics recently finished a complete overhaul and upgrade of the video and audio systems in the arena, the most extensive renovations to the facility since 2013. And while I can assure you that the results are outstanding, I hope you'll take the opportunity to see and hear for yourself this season!
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That's only one of the enhancements we've made to the game-day experience at the Robins Center. Fans will notice new concessions offerings, new giveaways, new in-game entertainment, and more, and our players will benefit from a new game-day locker room and new in-arena support facilities. It's all part of our goal of making the Robins Center one of the best home-court advantages in all of college basketball.
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But the biggest part of that plan is packing the stands to loudly and proudly support our Spiders. I was heartened by the number of fans who were there to see the men's team make its public debut with a 63-58 exhibition win vs JMU last Saturday, and I'm excited that there will be five more chances to see the team between now and Thanksgiving. The new-look Spiders will begin their season with a five-game homestand, which tips off Wednesday at 7 PM vs Southern Virginia.
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While the men's team features many first-time Spiders, the women's roster is marked with veterans from last year's regular season Atlantic 10 champs, and the national basketball media is taking notice. The Spiders were ranked at No. 24 nationally in the initial AP poll, the first appearance in the top 25 in more than 100 years of Spider women's basketball, and picked to finish first in the A-10 in the conference's official preseason poll. The women will make their highly-anticipated debut Tuesday at 6 PM vs Mount St. Mary's in the Robins Center before heading to fourth-ranked Texas next Friday. If you can't make it to Austin for what could be the first ranked vs ranked matchup ever for the Spider women, you can tune in on the SEC Network.
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FALL SPORTS FINISHES
The Spiders have a chance to claim their first conference championship of the season Friday, as field hockey looks to continue its remarkable A-10 run at VCU. UR is 4-1 in conference play, and a win vs the rival Rams would give Richmond its first regular season A-10 title since 2016 as well as the No. 1 seed in the Atlantic 10 Championship, which will be played at UR's Crenshaw Field on November 6 and November 8. The only thing sweeter than a conference title would be earning it by defeating VCU. Best of luck, Spiders!
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Spider football has three conference games left in its inaugural Patriot League season — starting with Saturday's home game vs Fordham — as well as the annual battle for the Capital Cup, when UR visits William & Mary for the 136th edition of the Oldest Rivalry in the South on November 22. Whether it's at Robins Stadium or down the road in Williamsburg, I hope you'll come out and support these Spiders as they finish off a history-making season.
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Spider soccer became our first team to wrap up its 2025-26 schedule when it beat St. Bonaventure 2-1 in its season finale on October 26. With the win, UR finished the season at 4-7-7, equaling its best winning percentage in the last six seasons.
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The biggest meet of the year is fast approaching for our cross country programs, as the Spiders head to Ohio this weekend to compete in the Atlantic 10 Championship. The men and the women have already won a meet this season, with both teams placing first in last month's Chanticleer Challenge at Coastal Carolina . We are hoping for win No. 2 on Saturday!
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And Spider golf and tennis seem set up for successful conference seasons next semester, as both programs scored major wins this fall. Men's golf won the season-opening Metropolis Intercollegiate in New York, and finished second in its final event of the fall, the Monterrey Collegiate Classic in Mexico. Women's golf was dominant in its September win at William & Mary's Tribe Invitational, posting the largest margin of victory (31 strokes) in program history! On the hardcourt, women's tennis' Sofia Barbulescu and Lara Bakhaya teamed up to capture the doubles crown at the Atlantic 10 Masters Qualifier, earning the duo a spot in the ITA Conference Masters Championship in San Diego next month.
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OUR GREATEST SPIDERS
During Homecoming weekend, it was an honor to enshrine former women's tennis coach Mark Wesselink in his rightful place in the Richmond Athletics Hall of Fame, along with two of his greatest players — Lesia Bilak Schinnerer and Bridget Merrick — as well as swimmer Brent Holsten, football's Buzz Montsinger, and the 2004-05 women's basketball team, our Team of Distinction. The induction ceremony Friday evening was a fitting celebration of this distinguished group and all they have achieved at Richmond and as alumni.
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Saturday morning, a smaller group gathered outside the Westhampton Tennis Complex to unveil a plaque on the facility's entrance gate that honors and pays tribute to Coach Wesselink's "legacy of service, commitment, and competitive achievement," per the plaque's inscription. Â When we need a reminder of what we hope Spider sports means to our supporters and instills in our students, I don't know if we can do any better than what Mark built during his 33 years leading our women's tennis program, values now etched into the very foundations of our tennis facility.
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It's a well-earned tribute to one of our greatest Spiders.
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And finally, thank you for your tremendous support of the Spiders, and I look forward to meeting many of you at one of our upcoming Spider events and games!Â
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Thank you, and… Go Spiders!
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