The University of Richmond women’s tennis team ended its season on April 24 with a 4-2 loss to second-seeded Virginia Commonwealth University in the Atlantic 10 Championship semifinals at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida.
The match marked the fourth consecutive year that Richmond advanced to the semifinal round. The Spiders completed their season with an overall record of 11-11, going 3-1 in conference play and finishing 5-2 at home.
VCU took an early lead by winning two out of three doubles matches. Richmond’s Beatriz Guerra and Abby Lee secured a doubles victory on court three, but VCU claimed wins on courts one and two, both by scores of 6-4. In singles play, Lainey O’Neil and Lucy Webber delivered straight-set victories for Richmond to put the team ahead temporarily. O’Neil won her match on court six (6-4, 6-2), while Webber earned a win on court five (6-4, 6-4).
VCU then responded with three consecutive singles victories to clinch the overall match. Sofia Jane Thorne defeated Sofia Barbulescu after dropping the first set (1-6, 6-1, 6-4) on court one. Tania Isabel Andrade Sabando overcame Lara Bakhaya in a close contest (2-6, 7-6 [4], 6-3) on court two. Mariam Ibrahim sealed VCU’s win with a comeback against Elizabeth Novak (4-6, 6-3, 7-5) on court three.
Play was halted during Abby Lee’s singles match when she trailed Andrea Magallanes (7-6 [4], 3–6, 5–2) after VCU secured victory.
With this result concluding their spring campaign, several Spider players finished with notable records: Lucy Webber led singles play at 12–7; Lainey O’Neil followed closely at 11–7; Abby Lee also posted an 11–9 mark.
