CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Advik Mareedu took a 6-4, 6-2 win over Mark Kneiss of Bowdoin in the semifinal round of the NCAA Division III singles championship on Monday, breaking his own program record for wins in a season with 42. 

Mareedu, who is now 42-2 in singles this year, and 83-3 in the last two years, will advance to the NCAA singles championship tomorrow morning against Michael Melnikov of Swarthmore, who defeated Andreas Sillaste in the other semifinal on Monday. 

Mareedu never lost his serve against Kneiss on Monday, but had to battle in the first set. He got the only break in the set to go ahead 3-2 after he was down 40-30, but took the last two points to win at deuce. After holding at love to go ahead 4-2, he took a 5-3 lead with a hold after the score was tied 30-30, and after Kneiss held to get it to 5-4, Mareedu won the first three points to go up 40-0, before winning the set two points later. 

The second set saw Mareedu get the upper hand quickly, breaking serve to go up 1-0 and then holding at love to go up 2-0. Kneiss hung tough, winning a deuce point on his serve to keep it a 3-2 set, but Mareedu held at love and then won the last two points of the next game after it was tied 30-30 for his second break. He then won the semifinal with an ace, leading 40-30, to take it 6-4, 6-2. 

The win sets up an intriguing final against Melnikov, who is the only Division III player to beat Mareedu in a dual in the last two seasons, which came in the quarterfinals of the ITA Indoor Championships back in February (6-4, 6-7, 6-4). Mareedu was 41-1 last season to set a new CMS record for wins in a season, 36-0 against Division III opponents, and his only loss came in a dual to Division II Westmont, a three-set defeat in which he had two match points. 

This year, Mareedu has suffered only two losses, the first of which came to Ruilin Feng of Emory in the finals of the ITA Cup singles national championship in the fall. He avenged that loss when CMS faced Emory in the NCAA team quarterfinals last week. With a win over Melnikov tomorrow, he could avenge both of his 2026 losses, and repeat as the NCAA Division III singles champion after winning the title a year ago. 

In addition to breaking the singles record, Mareedu also extended his own CMS record for most combined wins in both singles and doubles with 74, passing the old mark of 72 set by Warren Wood in 2015, when he won the triple crown (NCAA singles, doubles and team titles). His combined record this season is 74-9. Mareedu also stands 36-2 against Division III opponents this year, which gives him a chance to break his own program record for Division III wins of 36, which he set last year.