STATESBORO - Georgia Southern men's tennis senior Dimitris Paliouras keeps his eyes on the prize following his performance at the ITA Conference Masters Championships at the beginning of November. Paliouras represented Georgia Southern and the Sun Belt Conference at the championship in the men's singles division, where the Eagles senior lost to third-seeded Thomas Paulsell of the University of Georgia in the quarterfinals.
 
"It was a heartbreaker; I was really close," said Paliouras. "It just came down to a couple points, but that's how we learn." Despite his tough loss, Paliouras is keeping his focus on his end goal, the Sun Belt Conference Championship in April 2025.
 
The senior Eagle has kept his focus on winning the conference championship since the beginning of his Georgia Southern career. "That has been the main goal since I first came here. It's always been winning the final conference championship and bringing it home," said Paliouras.  
Paliouras began playing tennis at age eight and quickly discovered his love for the sport while his coaches recognized his talent. Within a month of playing tennis, Paliouras entered to play in his first tournament. "My mom was scared for me because I had only been playing for a month, but I did it just for fun and ended up doing okay," Paliouras said.
 
Paliouras grew up in Thessaloniki, Greece, and found Georgia Southern when looking for schools to play for in the United States. "These have been the best years of my life, and I'm really close to my team here," said Paliouras. Paliouras has truly made a name for himself during his four years at Georgia Southern.
 
Last year, Paliouras was named the 2024 Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year, making him only the third Georgia Southern men's tennis player to earn a Conference Player of the Year award in program history. "That was the most accomplished I've ever felt and it's a great honor to represent the Eagles and get this award," said Paliouras.
 
During his junior season, Paliouras went unbeaten, 7-0, in Sun Belt play and finished the 2024 season winning 11 straight singles matches. Paliouras attributes his naturally competitive mindset as his motivation when it comes to tennis.
   
"I'm a naturally competitive person, so whatever I do, I always try to do good and be the best," said Paliouras. For the senior Eagle, his motivation for tennis is also his motivation for life after tennis. "It's a way to prove to myself if I can achieve what I want in tennis, then that means I can also do whatever I want to achieve in my life through hard work," said Paliouras.
 
Paliouras is still unsure of where his future will lead; however, he isn't ready to leave tennis behind just yet. The Eagles senior is interested in coaching but also wants to pursue information technology, which he is currently studying at Georgia Southern.