The University of Richmond men’s tennis team defeated No. 1 seed Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) 4-3 in the Atlantic 10 Championship semifinal at the USTA National Campus on April 24. With this win, Richmond advances to the A-10 Championship final for the first time since 2021 and improves its spring season record to 16-8.
This victory is significant as it marks Richmond’s first win over VCU since February 28, 1990, ending a streak of 37 consecutive losses against the Rams. The Spiders also stopped VCU’s run of eight straight Atlantic 10 titles and achieved their first neutral site win in the series.
Richmond started strong by winning doubles matches on courts three and one. Grant Cohen and Charlie Burdell secured a victory on court three with a score of 6-3, while Davis Wiley and Cole Brashear clinched another point with a 6-2 win on court one. In singles play, after early wins by VCU on courts four and two, Wiley tied the match with a straight-set victory at No.1 singles. Paxton Pritchard then gave Richmond a lead before VCU evened the match again by winning on court five. The deciding point came from Brashear, who won his singles match in three sets to secure Richmond’s place in the championship final.
According to match notes, Richmond improved its all-time record against VCU to four wins and thirty-three losses. The updated individual records show Wiley leading singles with sixteen wins this spring while Brashear/Wiley have seventeen doubles victories together.
Looking ahead, Richmond will compete against No.3 seed Dayton in the Atlantic 10 Championship final scheduled for Saturday at the USTA National Campus.
