Liberty University
No. 2 seed FIU
No. 6 Seed Women’s Tennis Prepares for 2026 CUSA Championship
4/14/2026 11:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
LYNCHBURG, Va. – The No. 6 seed Liberty women's tennis team (12-9) will open the 2026 Conference USA Women's Tennis Championship, taking on No. 11 seed Missouri State (4-15) on Wednesday at 5 p.m. ET/4 p.m. CT
The event begins in Murfreesboro, Tenn., hosted by Middle Tennessee on Wednesday, with the championship final on Saturday. The semifinal and final rounds will be streamed live on ESPN+.
Liberty has competed in a single match against a CUSA foe. The Lady Flames bested the tournament's No. 4 seed Delaware, 7-0, in January.
The Lady Flames came up short in the CUSA Championship as the event's host site and the No. 5 seed in the semifinal round to eventual champion, No. 1 seed FIU. In its only other CUSA Championship, No. 2 seed Liberty finished as runners-up to the tournament host, No. 1 seed FIU.
Lady Flames News & Notes
- Liberty finished the regular season with a collective 70-42 (.625) singles record and a 32-22 (.593) doubles mark.
- The Lady Flames have secured the doubles point in 11-of-21 matches. Liberty has dropped the doubles point in the last five matches.
- Liberty has deployed Maria Turchetto and Yoanna Radulova in the No. 1 doubles position in every match this season. They own an 8-8 record together.
- The Lady Flames' pair of Daniella O'Neill and Milana Tsulygina owns the most wins with an 11-7 mark and a 10-7 record in the No. 2 doubles slot.
- The Lady Flames do most of their damage at the No. 4 (15-5) and No. 5 (14-6) singles positions. Tsulygina (15-4) owns an 8-3 mark in the No. 4 spot, while Joseph (14-5) sports a 7-0 mark at No. 5.
- Tsulygina leads the team with a 15-4 singles mark.
- O'Neill (11-6) sports a 9-5 record in the No. 1 singles slot.
- Turchetto (10-7) finished the season at the No. 2 singles position, where she owns a 4-2 mark.
- Anika Lemus wrapped the regular season at No. 6 singles, boasting a 3-2 mark.
Athletes At-a-Glance
Daniella O'Neill Garcia—Redshirt Junior (Dorado, Puerto Rico)
- 11-6 singles record, 11-8 doubles mark (Tsulygina)
- 9-5 mark at No. 1 singles, 10-8 record at No. 2 doubles
- CUSA Athlete Player of the Week (Feb. 11)
- Best win— No. 29 Charlotte's Ni Xi at No. 1 singles, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
- Owned a six-match winning streak at No. 1 singles (March 6-March 29)
- 2025 All-CUSA Singles second team, All-CUSA Doubles second team (O'Neill)
- 2024 CUSA All-Freshman team
Maria Turchetto—Junior (Florianopolis, Brazil)
- 10-7 singles record, 8-8 doubles mark (Radulova)
- 4-2 mark at No. 2 singles, 6-5 at No. 3, 8-8 at No. 1 doubles
- Two-time CUSA Doubles Pair of the Week (Jan. 28, March 4)
- Best win—Delaware's Amelia Gorman at No. 3 singles, 6-4, 6-3
- Owned a six-match doubles winning streak to begin the season (Jan. 16-Feb.7)
- 2025 All-CUSA Doubles second team (O'Neill)
- 2024 CUSA All-Freshman team
Yoanna Radulova—Sophomore (Plovdiv, Bulgaria)
- 5-11 singles record, 8-8 doubles record
- 2-2 at No. 1 singles, 3-7 at No. 2, 8-8 at No. 1 doubles
- Two-time CUSA Doubles Pair of the Week (Jan. 28, March 4)
- Best win— Delaware's Maryia Hrynahka at No. 1 singles, 3-6, 6-4, 1-0 (6)
- 2025 All-CUSA Singles second team
Milana Tsulygina—Freshman (UFA, Russia)
- Team-best 15-4 singles record and 12-7 doubles record (O'Neill)
- 4-0 at No. 3 singles, 8-3 at No. 4, 10-7 at No. 2 doubles
- CUSA Athlete of the Week (Jan. 28)
- Best win— No. 29 Charlotte's Lucia Aranda, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-0
- Owned a five-match singles winning streak (March 13-April 3) at No. 3 and No. 4
Celina Joseph— Sophomore (Malmesbury, South Africa)
- 14-5 singles record, 9-4 doubles mark (Wai)
- 7-0 at No. 5 singles, 6-5 at No. 6, 8-2 at No. 3 doubles
- Best win— USF's Francesca Miglio at No. 5 singles, 6-2, 7-6 (6)
- Went on a 7-1 stretch in singles (Jan. 23-March 1), ended the year 5-1 (March 15-April 10)
- 2025 ALL-CUSA Doubles second team
Anika Lemus—Sophomore (Guatemala City, Guatemala)
- 4-2 singles record, 5-3 doubles mark (Wai)
- 3-2 mark at No. 6 singles, 5-3 at No. 3 doubles
- Three-match winning streak at No. 6 singles in five appearances
- 2025 CUSA All-Freshman team
Yee Ching 'Candy' Wai—Junior (Hong Kong)/Tyler Junior College
- 9-7 singles record, 9-6 doubles mark
- 6-2 at No. 3 singles, 8-5 at No. 3 doubles
- Best win— ETSU's Niyati Kukreti at No. 5 singles, 6-4, 6-3
- Five-match singles winning streak at No. 4 and No. 5 (Feb. 17-March 8)
