The University of Richmond women’s tennis team defeated Rhode Island 4-1 in the Atlantic 10 Championship quarterfinals at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla., on April 23. With this victory, the third-seeded Spiders improved their season record to 11-10 and secured a place in the semifinal round for the fourth consecutive year.
The result is significant as it continues Richmond’s recent streak of strong postseason performances and keeps their championship hopes alive. The match began with Rhode Island taking an early lead by winning two out of three doubles matches, despite a win from Sofia Barbulescu and Lara Bakhaya for Richmond on court one.
In singles play, Richmond quickly recovered. Lainey O’Neil delivered a decisive win on court six (6-1, 6-1), followed by Abby Lee’s identical scoreline on court four to put Richmond ahead. Bakhaya extended the lead with a straight-set victory over Nikki Fernando on court two (6-4, 6-3). Barbulescu then clinched the overall match for Richmond with her own straight-set win at the top spot (7-5, 6-2).
With four points secured by Richmond, play was halted on courts three and five where Elizabeth Novak and Lucy Webber were leading their respective matches. Updated spring records show Lee leads singles wins for Richmond at 11-9 while Webber follows closely at 11-7.
Looking ahead, Richmond will face second-seeded VCU in the Atlantic 10 semifinal round scheduled for Friday, April 24 at the same venue.
