VCU women’s tennis defeated Richmond 4-2 in the Atlantic 10 semifinal on Apr. 24 in Orlando, Florida, at the USTA National Campus.
The win allows VCU to advance to the championship match, continuing their dominance in this crosstown rivalry. The Rams now hold a record of 20 wins out of the last 22 meetings against Richmond.
Both teams entered the match with similar records—VCU at 12-10 and Richmond at 11-10—but VCU took an early lead by securing the doubles point. Despite Richmond winning five of six opening sets in singles play and briefly leading, VCU responded with strong performances in key singles matches. The contest was closely contested into third sets before VCU ultimately prevailed.
In doubles action, VCU won on Courts 1 and 2 with identical scores of 6-4, giving them a crucial early advantage. In singles play, Richmond initially gained momentum by taking Courts 6 and 5. However, on Court 1 Thorne came back after dropping her first set to win her match and even up the overall score for VCU. On Court 2 another Ram overcame an early deficit to claim victory after a second-set tiebreaker carried her through a decisive third set.
The clinching moment came on Court 3 where Ibrahim recovered from being down several times during her match before securing back-to-back games late in the third set for a comeback win that sent VCU into the championship round. Other matches included unfinished play on Court 4 and victories for Richmond on Courts 5 and 6.
With this result, VCU improves its season record to thirteen wins against ten losses while Richmond evens out at eleven wins and eleven losses. Next up for VCU is a matchup against Fordham in the Atlantic Ten Final scheduled for first serve at approximately half past five.
