Liberty University Women’s Tennis Falls To FIU 4-0 in CUSA Championship
The No. 5 Liberty University Women’s Tennis team finished its 2024-2025 season when Florida International University won a 4-0 match in the Conference USA (CUSA) Championship at the Liberty Tennis Complex April 17-18.
Entering the contest with a 4-1 CUSA record, the Lady Flames started the tournament in a matchup against Kennesaw State University April 17. Weather conditions were optimal for tennis and the Lady Flames began the day falling short to the Lady Owls in doubles.
Kennesaw State secured its first point of the match, and Liberty headed into singles scoreless.
“Our conversation before singles was that we just knew we were tough,” Head Coach Dash Connell said. “We knew we had to be tough again, but there had to be something else. We had to go for our shot, have the guts to execute.”
Starting off with fire under their belts, the Lady Flames won five out of six first sets. Freshman Yoanna Radulova on court one was the only Lady Flame to lose her first set.
“That’s the hardest spot to play in tennis sometimes,” Connell said. “The line when you are playing everyone’s best, and she’s (Radulova) a freshman who we put a lot of pressure on her, playing that hot spot. There are no days off.”
Redshirt sophomore Daniella O’Neill evened the score after a victory in her match. O’Neill showed much emotion when she won her match and put Liberty on the board. Liberty took the lead with a win from freshman Anika Lemus, bringing the score to 2-1.
The Lady Owls tied up the match with a win on court one against Radulova. Freshman Celina Joseph brought the lead back to Liberty with a win in her match. Over on court four, the Lady Flames cheered on sophomore Maria Turchetto, who was able to earn the match winning point to secure the win for Liberty.
The Lady Flames moved on to face No. 1 seed FIU April 18 in the CUSA Championship semifinals.
“Everyone knows that No. 1 seed, they are supposed to win,” Connell said. “There is some pressure on them from that. … Our job is to make them feel that pressure as much as possible. On paper, we are the underdogs. That’s okay. … It doesn’t mean we have to believe it.”
Starting out in doubles, the Lady Flames kept it close with the Lady Panthers, but they were not able to pull through with the win. FIU took the lead 1-0 going into the singles matches.
The Lady Panthers had momentum and took the lead in singles, winning four of six first sets. On court five, Lemus took the lead in her match, winning the first set, while freshman Yu-Yun Chen also led on court two.
On court one, the Lady Panthers took their second point, advancing their lead 2-0. Over on court six, FIU took their third point with Liberty trailing by three.
The match concluded with a win by the Lady Panthers on court two. The Lady Panthers fought back against Chen, winning the final two sets of the match.
The remaining matches went unfinished as the Lady Panthers secured the win for the day. Liberty fell to FIU 4-0 in the semifinals of the CUSA Championships, ending its postseason run 1-1.
FIU went on to the championship match and secured the CUSA title in a 4-1 win over Louisiana Tech University April 19.
Youngworth is a sports reporter for the Liberty Champion.