Liberty University put its international outreach on notice when it recruited Milana Tsulygina, an up-and-coming tennis player from Russia.
Tsulygina is a freshman studying digital marketing and advertising who joined the Flames in the 2026 spring semester and was added to the tennis roster. Despite the overwhelming pressure that comes with stepping on the court as a freshman, Tsulygina is overcoming those fears and starting to dominate.
Competing in both singles and doubles, Tsulygina was a big help in winning matches for the school, and her college career is just getting started.
“This is my first semester here, I was not here in (the) fall,” Tsulygina said. “I like it so much. I really like our team, our girls, of course our coaches, they’re incredible. Our facility, campus, everything is pretty good.”
Tsulygina comes from a hockey-centered family in Ufa, Russia. Her father Nikolai was a second-round pick by the 1993 Anaheim Ducks in the NHL and is credited with over 400 games in both the American Hockey League and the Kontinental Hockey League in Russia. Both of her brothers play hockey in Russia as well, so it was a big decision to come to America and pursue tennis.
Tsulygina’s family is an important factor in her career, especially her brothers.
“I always see how my mom, how she support(s) my brothers and I really like to go to their matches and support them and support that team,” Tsulygina said. “I think it’s helped (me) to be competitive because you always see how they talk, how everybody wants to win, to be better and better.”
According to Tsulygina many players, including athletes she knows personally, came to play at American universities. Tsulygina said that her friends told her all about the experiences of playing tennis in college and she wanted to experience that opportunity for herself.
“I started to search the universities to play in the U.S. because now they have many opportunities,” Tsulygina said. “Many girls who play so good, they play in the universities and many of my friends in Russia, they came to the U.S. before me and they say, ‘Milana, it’s so good. I like this experience.’”
Tsulygina said her recruiting process started with posting her video profile online for colleges to find. After being contacted by coaches and looking at videos of Liberty’s campus, Tsulygina decided she wanted to be a part of Liberty’s team.
Being a student-athlete is a difficult lifestyle for any student. Student-athletes must pass classes, practice daily and prepare and play in matches.
“Now we are in season, so it’s so tough because we play matches every weekend,” Tsulygina said. “But (for) a normal day we have gym at 7 a.m. … after that we go into our practice. One hour of gym, two hours of practice. After that I have my classes, I have two classes every day.”
Tsulygina explained that her days have an early start with a gym session and how her daily routine might also include homework and even private practice sessions on top of everything else. She also mentioned that she is still adapting to the size of campus.
“I think the biggest challenge is, personally, our campus is so big and sometimes so hard to walk,” Tsulygina said. “I have no idea how to use these buses.”
Tsulygina talked about how she started playing tennis when she was very young, stating she knew how competitive she was at that age.
She also noted the difference between playing solo in Russian tournaments at home to competing in a team aspect, sharing how special it feels to be able to win together.
“I just compete in Russian singles tournament(s) and now for me, (this is) something different, because we play like a team,” Tsulygina said. “It’s not the same, but still (it) is so good to compete with your team and to win together.”
Tsulygina plans to eventually compete at a professional level after college. She said that based on her performance so far in this semester, the possibility is there.
“If I will continue how I started this season, this short (time) from January, it was pretty good,” Tsulygina said. “So, if I will be compete(ing) like that and improving, I think I have a chance to start to play pro.”
Rice is a sports reporter for the Liberty Champion.