Staff Directory
- Title:
- Director of Tennis
- Email:
- Phone:
- 289-8915
Houston Barrick enters his ninth season as head coach of the Spiders ahead of the 2025-26 season after being named to the post prior to the 2017-18 campaign.
In 2024-25, Barrick led Richmond to its third straight winning season and third consecutive appearance in the Atlantic 10 Championship semifinals. The Spiders posted a 12-9 overall record, went 4-2 in conference play and earned the No. 3 seed in the tournament. Richmond finished 5-2 at the Westhampton Tennis Complex and reached the A-10 semifinals before falling 4-2 to No. 2 VCU. Barrick coached Davis Wiley and Dylan Atkinson to A-10 All-Conference First Team honors while Cole Brashear and Paxton Pritchard earned spots on the second team.
With five freshmen on the roster in 2023-24, Barrick led Richmond to a 14-8 overall record that included a 6-1 mark in A-10 action, a 5-4 record at the Westhampton Tennis Complex, an even 3-3 road record and a 6-1 mark on neutral courts. The Spiders downed No. 7 St. Bonaventure to open the 2024 Atlantic 10 Championship. Barrick also coached Daniel Kliebhan to All-Conference First Team accolades while Wiley, Pritchard and Sebastian Miano picked up second team honors.
In 2022-23, Barrick guided the Spiders to a 14-9 record and a 3-2 mark in conference play. The team went 5-1 at home and made a strong A-10 Championship run, defeating No. 10 Fordham 4-0 before narrowly falling to No. 6 Dayton 4-3 in the semifinals. Kliebhan earned first team honors, while William Karpinski and John Walsh were named to the second team. That season, Richmond was also named an ITA All-Academic Team.
In 2021-22, Richmond finished 11-11 overall and 3-3 in league play with a 5-3 home record. The Spiders reached the A-10 quarterfinals before falling to No. 4 Davidson. The team’s 2019-20 season was cut short due to COVID-19 after playing only 10 matches. In 2020-21, the Spiders played a shortened spring-only schedule and finished 6-8 overall, including a 3-1 mark in conference and a 5-3 record at home.
Barrick led Richmond to back-to-back A-10 Championship final appearances early in his tenure, falling to VCU in both title matches. In just his second season, the Spiders went 18-6 overall, 4-1 in conference play and reached the final as the No. 2 seed. The 18 wins were the second most in program history. That year, he coached three All-Conference selections in Matthew Fernandez (first team), George Lovitt (second team) and Klein Evans (second team).
In his first season at the helm, Barrick took over a squad that had lost five seniors, including A-10 Performer of the Year Jacob Dunbar, and led Richmond to a 14-11 overall record and a 4-3 A-10 mark. The Spiders defeated La Salle and George Washington to reach the conference semifinals as the No. 5 seed.
Barrick came to Richmond after five seasons as associate head coach at VCU, where he helped the Rams to four A-10 Championship final appearances and mentored student-athletes to 16 All-Conference honors. Two of his players reached the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships.
Prior to his time at VCU, Barrick worked as a club professional at Belle Meade Country Club in his hometown of Nashville, Tennessee, and served as an assistant coach at Cornell in 2011, helping lead the Big Red to its first Ivy League championship and NCAA Tournament appearance.
As a player, Barrick was a four-year starter and two-time captain at the University of Virginia. He helped the Cavaliers to three National Indoor Championships and a 140-6 team record. He went a perfect 60-0 in ACC dual matches and posted career records of 102-31 in singles and 115-34 in doubles. He was a two-time NCAA All-Tournament Team selection, 2010 ACC Tournament MVP and an All-ACC First Team honoree. He was ranked as high as No. 2 in doubles and No. 50 in singles. Academically, he was a two-time member of the All-ACC Academic Team and earned his bachelor’s degree in government in 2010.
