Submitted photo / Denison Athletic Communications and Stockton Photos Inc. Anthony Payiavlas, a Denison junior and Warren G. Harding alum, hits a forehand during his No. 6 singles match against Case Western Reserve in the national championship on May 22 at Biszantz Family Tennis Center in Claremont, Calif.

After graduating from Warren G. Harding in 2022, Anthony Payiavlas set his sights on college tennis with the Denison University men’s tennis team.

However, his freshman season with the Big Red was interrupted almost as soon as it began when he injured his ankle while leading in the second set of his first career singles match during the Kenyon Invitational.

Almost the same thing happened the very next year. In an early dual match against U-Chicago, Payiavlas injured his other ankle playing in the No. 5 singles match.

Both injuries caused him to miss significant portions of each season, and as a result, Payiavlas’ confidence on the court was shaken. But he worked to rehab, recover and rebuild his mojo.

“The whole process of not being able to be out there helping my team was hard for me,” Payiavlas said in a phone interview Friday. “But during the whole process, I found other ways to help my team. … Throughout the whole process, when I was coming back, I was just trying to gain confidence day-by-day. Finally, I got back to the place where I was and even was a little bit better.”

Now a junior, Payiavlas was back in top form this past season. He and the Big Red had high expectations, and they went on to meet and even exceed those expectations.

Denison spent the entire season ranked in the top-five of the ITA rankings and went on a fiery run through the NCAA tournament, eventually defeating Case Western Reserve 4-2 in the final last week to capture the program’s first national championship.

“It was awesome — no words really can describe that feeling,” Payiavlas said. “I just kind of blacked out in a way. It was awesome seeing Andreas (Chapides), who clinched the match for us. After that win, I just kind of felt relieved knowing all the hard work that we put in through the year, all the practice, all the weekend matches and every match leading up to that point just paid off. I’m still not sure that I’ve soaked it all in, but it was just an awesome feeling in that moment that I’ll never forget.”

It was the third time Denison had beaten the Spartans this season. The Big Red made quick work of Case Western in doubles play, but the Spartans started strong in singles play.

Payiavlas picked up Denison’s first singles match win, cruising in straight sets at the No. 6 spot. Ethan Green and Chapides then picked up hard-fought three-set wins to clinch the match and the title for the Big Red.

“I actually remember when I had my first visit to Denison (during high school), I was sitting down with Coach (David) Schilling, and he literally said, ‘We’re trying to build a team that can win a national championship,'” Payiavlas said. “Just knowing that we did that is just an unforgettable moment.”

Denison finished with a program-best 28-2 overall record that included 20 straight wins — the longest winning streak in Big Red history. The team also earned signature wins against other top programs like Emory and Case Western, something that had eluded them in the past, while also qualifying for the ITA Indoor Championship tournament during the season for the first time.

“Our goal for this year was to make progress based on last year,” Schilling said. “We knew we were going to have a very good team this year, and we’ll have a very good team next year with almost everybody back. So we knew we’d have a shot at this.

“We had an incredible year, but a lot of (the matches) were very, very close. This is a tribute to the players and how they got themselves out of any hole that we would get ourselves into. We’d have very little pathway to victory and these guys would keep battling and find a way to win.”

For the Big Red, the overarching theme of the season was overcoming adversity, much like Payiavlas had with bouncing back from his injuries.

The cornerstone of that comes from the culture that Schilling has fostered within the program.

When Payiavlas joined the team with six or seven other freshmen, culture was something they had to work on, according to Schilling. But he said it all eventually came together, calling it the ‘closest-knit group that he’s ever been a part of’ in more than 30 years of coaching, and they all worked towards the ultimate goal of winning the national title.

“We talked about it throughout the whole year — that this was probably one of the closest teams that I’ve been a part of,” Payiavlas said. “I think that’s what built us to who we are. Down the stretch, when we faced adversity, we knew we could always lean on guys. I could lean on a teammate and a teammate could lean on me. I think having that and trusting that just pushed us to the edge and we knew that we could get past any piece of adversity.”