Bob van Overbeek’s serve is so powerful that he snapped a net strap this past weekend in the ITA Indoor Championships.
However, coach Bryan Shelton was not pleased about the senior’s inability to get it over the net.
“At times I felt like we were trying to knock the net down, and that’s not a good thing,” Shelton said.
Florida’s top singles player lost his fourth consecutive match against Washington this past Sunday. Two of his past four losses have come against top 20 players. No. 78 van Overbeek lost 6-2, 6-1 to Pepperdine's No. 4 Sebastian Fanselow on Feb. 15, and 6-2, 7-6 to No. 18 Kyle McMorrow of Washington on Sunday.
After a three-game skid, the No. 16 Gators will need van Overbeek to step up against the No. 20 Baylor Bears Saturday at 1 p.m.
“It’s sort of like a completely new season for us starting outside again,” van Overbeek said. “It’s exciting to get back to playing pretty quickly after indoors.”
Florida lost every doubles point this weekend. Shelton said it was because of the team’s failure to hold serve.
“It’s difficult to win in tennis when you aren’t holding serve consistently,” Shelton said. “When you’re serving second serves and you’re missing your spots, it makes life very difficult for you, and a lot easier for our opponent.”
To improve the team’s serving percentage for Baylor, Shelton has set up brooms on the net for the team to hit. He said by doing so, the team will have a better idea of where to aim in order to ace its serves. Shelton said there is a sense of urgency after losing three consecutive games, and his focus is on the team improving in every aspect of the game.
“We got to be tougher, we also have to be able to exchange eight to 10 to 12 balls in a rally and not check out after three, four, or five balls,” Shelton said. However, Shelton is not concerned about van Overbeek's recent struggles.
He said van Overbeek’s ability to execute at the net has improved over the past eight months, and it’s just a matter of time when the top singles player returns to form.
“We have confidence that he can play with anyone in the country when he’s right, and he is closing in on getting there,” Shelton said.
UF senior Bob van Overbeek returns a volley. Van Overbeek won only his second match since Feb. 3 against Ole Miss on Friday.
