CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Gage Gohl and
Tyler Haddorff of the No. 23 nationally ranked Gustavus men's tennis team competed in the doubles semifinals of the NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Championships on Monday. Gohl and Haddorff, the 2024 doubles national champions, won their Final Four match 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 to set up a national championship showdown on Tuesday as the Gustie seniors have earned a chance to compete for their second national title.
The No. 12 nationally ranked doubles team of Gohl and Haddorff battled No. 9 Trevor Rein and Asher Willinborg of Mary Washington in the semifinals. In the opening set, the Gustie duo took a 3-1 lead over the Eagles. Rein and Willinborg then caught a wave and won four games in a row to go up 5-3 over Gustavus. Needing to break the Eagles' serve, Gohl and Haddorff trailed 40-30 in the next game but then won back-to-back points to stave off set point twice and get back on serve down 5-4.
The next two games stayed on serve as Rein and Willinborg led 6-5. The Gustie seniors fell behind 40-15 in the next game, facing three set points for the Eagles. Gohl and Haddorff dug deep and won back-to-back-to-back points to survive the game and send the first set to a tiebreaker at 6-6. Gustavus went on to take the tiebreaker 7-5 to complete the opening set rally and take the lead going into set two.
After their hard-fought rally in the first set, Gohl and Haddorff caught fire in the second. The set opened 1-1 on serve, but then the Gusties won five games in a row with two service breaks to cruise to a 6-1 set win, taking the match in straight sets.
With the win, the top Gustie doubles team improved to 30-5 this year with a 14-1 mark in tournament matches.
Up next for the Gustavus duo is the national doubles championship final. No. 12 Gohl and Haddorff will take on No. 3 Ethan Green and Kael Shalin Shah of Denison on Tuesday, May 26 in a winner-take-all match for the NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Doubles Championship. The time is currently set for 9:00 a.m. CT to be played at the outdoor courts, weather permitting.
