Spider Sports

She’s a Spider now

Incoming freshman Olivia Healy was named Massachusetts Gatorade Player of the Year and ESPNBoston.com’s Miss Basketball this spring.

“Nobody put a team on their back the way Healy did,” said ESPNBoston.com’s Brendan Hall. “Night after night, game after game, she delivered.”

Another season, another championship

It’s almost enough to make you feel sorry for the rest of the A-10. Almost.

Richmond swimming and diving wrapped up its third straight conference championship and 11th in 12 years. Senior Mali Kobelja paced the team at the A-10 championship, winning every race she entered and earning the A-10’s Most Outstanding Performer of the Year for the second year in a row. She and senior Mina Vucic were named to the A-10 Academic All-Conference Team.

Two out of three ain’t bad

Richmond came away 2-1 on the hardwood against VCU in their first season together in the A-10.

In a very loud Robins Center, the Spider men erased a 7-point deficit with 38 seconds left to force overtime. Students flooded the court at the buzzer to celebrate an 86-74 victory. Six weeks later, the ball bounced the other way at the Siegel Center, where UR fell 93-82 in a game that saw nine ties and 10 lead changes until VCU pulled away in the final two minutes.

The Spider women held off a late rally by the struggling Rams to win their only matchup 66-62 in the Robins Center. Before the game, senior Rachael Bilney was honored for scoring her 1000th point. It came on an assist from twin sister Samantha against UMass Feb. 17.

Hall of Fame

In April, the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame inducted Dick Tarrant, the winningest coach in Spider basketball history. From 1981–93, his teams won 240 games and made UR’s first nine postseason appearances.

Top scholars

Seventy-eight Spiders were named to the A-10 Commissioner’s Honor Roll for the fall 2012 semester. To be eligible, students must maintain at least a 3.5 average on a 4.0 scale.

The A-10 established a new record for the number of honorees, with 1,637 earning the distinction.

Hello, Atlantic Sun

Men’s lacrosse, which will begin Division I play in spring 2014, has a conference home: the Atlantic Sun. Among Richmond’s conference foes will be Virginia Military Institute.

Coach Dan Chemotti was named the 2012 Division I Assistant Coach of the Year by the U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association for his work last season at Loyola University Maryland, which reached the Division I national championship.

Robins Center makeover

Spiders at home since 1972

  • 2,959,445 All-time attendance (men)
  • 8,349 Record attendance for women’s
    game (vs. Virginia, 1994)
  • 1,004 Spider home games
    (men and women)
  • 666 Spider home wins (men and women)
  • 132 Most points scored in a game
    (men vs. Bluefield, 1979)
  • 66 Most rebounds in a game
    (men vs. Appalachian State, 1973)
  • 36 Most personal fouls in a game
    (men vs. VCU, 1979; women vs.
    East Carolina, 1999)
  • 21 Most steals in a game (women twice;
    vs. Duquesne, 2002; vs. Maryland-
    Eastern Shore 1994)
  • 17 Most three-point shots made in a
    game (women vs. American, 2000)
  • 9 Fewest points in a half by an opponent
    (men vs. Southern, 2010)

Fans closer to the court, full video replays on giant screens, and fewer empty seats—renovation is under way to make the Robins Center a lot more fun for Spiders and far less cozy for visiting teams.

When finished, the result will be an “aesthetic [that] is going to be better, and it’s going to be a lot more intimate,” athletics director Keith Gill told the Richmond Times-Dispatch, which said the renovations are “expected to offer a fresh vibe.”

Men’s basketball coach Chris Mooney put it more simply: “We’re thrilled with it.”

The $17-million first phase of renovation happening this summer will reconfigure the student section as one continuous seating area starting on the floor right under the basket. New lighting, ceiling paint, scoreboards, and video boards will better showcase action on the court, and refurbished seats, premium seating options, and pregame hospitality areas will give a great experience to the fans who come to watch it.

Those fans will also see fewer empty seats. In the 2012–13 season, the men’s team averaged approximately 6,000 fans per game and more than 7,000 for the A-10 portion of the schedule, but capacity was more than 9,000. Seating reconfiguration will reduce capacity to approximately 7,000, meaning players on the court can look forward to more full houses and intense crowds.

To keep up with the progress, visit Robins Center Renovations Central.

Visit Spiders on the Web — RichmondSpiders.com