RICHMOND — The 2014 Atlantic Sun Champion Richmond Spiders and head coach Dan Chemotti have announced their 2015 schedule. The Spiders, along with their A-Sun cohorts, have moved under the umbrella of the Southern Conference starting this season, adding Bellarmine, a program out of Louisville, Kentucky, to the league mix.
After scrimmages with Navy and Robert Morris in January, the regular season begins for the Spiders with home games in the first six weekends, mixing in a road contest at Mount Saint Mary’s on Wednesday March 11. Richmond faces Saint Joseph’s, Rutgers, Marquette and UMBC before hosting VMI in their first SoCon game on Saturday, March 7.
“Our players and staff are excited for this year’s schedule,” said Chemotti. “Out of conference, we have added some new teams and kept some budding rivalries. In conference, Bellarmine joins our league and we anticipate that every game will once again be a hard fought battle. We are fortunate and excited to be competing in Robins Stadium nine times this spring, including seven Saturdays. Everyone is working very hard in the offseason to prepare for the demanding schedule ahead.”
The highlight game slated for Robins Stadium will be on Saturday, March 14, when the Tar Heels of North Carolina make the trip up to Richmond for a 1 p.m. contest.
The remainder of the schedule has Richmond at home against NJIT before a road trip at Virginia on March 28 as the final non-conference tilt of the docket. The Spiders will travel to Jacksonville (March 21), High Point (April 11) and play their last road game in Louisville at Bellarmine in conference. Home SoCon games after VMI will be versus Furman (April 4) and the regular-season finale against Mercer on April 25.
The SoCon, like in the A-Sun before it, will play its conference tournament at the site of the top seed at the conclusion of the regular season. The Spiders went to top-seed Mercer and toppled both the Bears and High Point to capture the crown and advance to the 2014 NCAA Tournament, the first time a first-year program earned a postseason berth since the tournament began in 1971.
The Spiders return all 16 players, including the top 13 point-scorers, that played at least 15 of the 17 games last season and eight more players who saw action in 2014 to add to the 14 newcomers added to the roster so far this fall. The Saint Joseph’s game on Saturday, February 7 will begin the regular season, with the opening faceoff at Robins Stadium scheduled for 1 p.m.
