Greetings Spiders!
With winter sports well underway and spring sports ready to start, the next three weeks are jam-packed with Spider action! Over that span, every Saturday will feature at least three home events, a stretch that will be capped by an unprecedented six on-campus games on February 21. There have never been so many opportunities to support the Spiders! I hope you'll make your way to campus or tune in to SpiderTV, Spider social media, or RichmondSpiders.com to stay in touch with all the Spider action over the next month.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7 - LACROSSE DOUBLEHEADER AND A BIG TEST FOR WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday at noon, women's lacrosse opens its season against No. 24 Penn State at Robins Stadium as the team begins its season-long push for a third A-10 title in the last four years. The Spiders return a promising roster and have been tabbed as the preseason favorite in the conference.
At 3 PM, men's lacrosse will begin its defense of its Atlantic 10 title with a home matchup against Robert Morris. It's the start of an ambitious non-conference schedule for the Spiders, who enter the season ranked among the top 10 teams in the nation. UR will also host national powers Maryland, Virginia, and Georgetown during its non-conference season and face Notre Dame in Chicago and defending national champion Cornell on the road. It's part of a schedule made for a program coming off an NCAA quarterfinals appearance and seeking to further cement its status as one of the premier programs in college lacrosse.
The day wraps with a women's basketball battle with A-10 title implications as the Spiders take on George Mason. At 19-4, women's basketball is closing in on a fourth straight 20-win season, which would match the program record. But the team will need to come from behind in the conference standings if it's going to win a third straight A-10 regular season title and secure the top seed for the 2026 A-10 Women's Basketball Championship, which will once again be held locally at the Henrico Sports & Events Center. Crowds like the 5,224 fans that packed the Robins Center for the team's big win vs VCU on January 18 – the largest audience for a Spider women's basketball game at home in the past 25 years – could make the difference for this special squad during its stretch run.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14 - MY SPIDER VALENTINE
Valentine's Day dates can wait on Saturday, February 14, as Spider baseball, men's lacrosse, and men's basketball will be in action into the early evening. At noon, lacrosse will host ACC-rival Virginia, seeking a second straight win vs the Cavaliers after defeating UVA in Charlottesville last season. At 1 PM, Spider baseball will begin its second game of the season, the midpoint of an opening three-game series with Monmouth at Pitt Field. UR is looking to build on last year's 33-19 record, Richmond's most wins in a season since 2004.
And at 6 PM, the Robins Center will be rocking as men's basketball welcomes VCU for the Richmond Area Honda Dealers Capital City Classic on CBS Sports Network. Men's basketball is 9-5 at home this season, and I know a rowdy Red-Out crowd will be waiting for the Rams.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21 - SUPER SPIDER SATURDAY
The craziest day of the Spiders' calendar year includes six Spider games on campus! Men's tennis hosts Brown, baseball plays two against Penn State, men's lacrosse welcomes Lehigh (12 PM) before women's lacrosse faces Duke (3 PM), and men's basketball caps off a Super Spider Saturday by hosting St. Bonaventure for a Senior Night White-Out (6 PM).
And while it's not in the 804 area, Spider swim & dive will be seeking another top finish at a conference championship just a short drive down I-64 on the final day of the 2026 A-10 Championships in Hampton, Va.
SETTING THE STAGE FOR SUCCESS
Best wishes for success to all Spiders competing during this hectic season, and congratulations on all you've already accomplished. That includes more than 400 student-athletes who posted a combined 3.37 GPA during the fall semester, and the 14 different teams that registered a GPA of 3.00 or better. Even during the busiest of times, academic achievement is a priority for our Spiders!
The need for a space to gather, a space to relax, and even a space to study was a driving force behind the recently-completed renovations in the Robins Center that resulted in new locker rooms for the women's lacrosse and soccer programs and a new game-day team room for men's and women's basketball. Seeing the reactions of our student-athletes to these new spaces was wonderful and a testament to how much they appreciate all that is available to them.
Our next major opportunity to provide for our Spiders will be our annual UR Here Giving Day, which will be held on April 8th and 9th. Thank you in advance for helping us continue to build an unrivaled student-athlete experience here at Richmond!
Take care, and… Go Spiders!
