CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -
Advik Mareedu won in both singles and doubles in his final collegiate dual, but the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's tennis team finished on the short end of a 4-3 thriller to Chicago in the national championship match on Saturday, which was held indoors at the McCallie School due to steady rain.
The Stags finish the year at 34-2, ending as the runner-up to Chicago for the second time in three years, after ending up on the short end of a 5-4 score in 2024. Mareedu and fellow senior
Warren Pham will continue on in the NCAA singles competition starting tomorrow, while Mareedu and
Caleb Settles will be in the doubles competition.
Pham very nearly had an epic comeback for the ages as the decisive point, as he refused to give in when the match was going against him. He matched up against Emil Grantcharov, who has played No. 1 singles for Chicago in each of the last two seasons, but is playing on the No. 2 line for the Maroons this year.
Down 5-1 in the third set, Pham fought off one match point to hold at deuce to get back to within 5-2. He then faced two match points on Grantcharov's serve, and was able to fight them both off for a big break to cut the deficit to 5-3. After holding serve, Pham matched Grantcharov on the first two points to get to 30-30, but Grantcharov won the last two to give his team its second national title in the last three years.
Mareedu and Settles had a dominant win at No. 1 doubles to give CMS an early leg up, and
Sibi Raja and
Josh Kim were able to secure the doubles point with a 6-3 win at No. 2.
Anirudh Reddy and
Henry Wilson were deadlocked 4-4 when their match was halted.
Mareedu then won his match 6-4, 6-1 at No. 1 singles to put CMS ahead 2-0. He improved his singles record to 38-2 this year, his two-year singles record to 79-3, and his career record to 139-15.
Chicago won the next three points to take a 3-2 lead, but Wilson responded after falling in the first set, to win his match 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 to level the score. The national finals then came down to two points, and Grantcharov was able to win them on his serve to earn his team the title.
Mareedu will try to repeat as the NCAA singles champion beginning tomorrow, while Mareedu and Settles will enter the doubles tournament as the top seed.
