Bob van Overbeek sat his second consecutive match against Arkansas, but he wasn’t needed on Sunday.
The senior has played doubles in both matches, but freshman Luke Johnson has taken over his lineup spot in singles, and Johnson was the closer in Sunday's match.
Florida (10-8, 4-4 Southeastern Conference) shut out Arkansas 4-0 (12-12, 0-9 SEC), recovering from its loss to LSU on Friday.
“I was proud of the guys to be able to bounce back,” Shelton said in a release. “We’re going to face adversity, we know that. It’s all about what you do when adversity comes, how you respond to it. I liked our response today. I thought we did some really good things out there today.”
The difference maker for the Gators this season has been the team’s doubles performance. When the Gators lose the point, they are 3-7 on the season. But on Sunday, the Gators grabbed the momentum early on, going up 4-1 on all three courts.
Stephane Piro and van Overbeek seized an 8-3 victory. Minutes later, Billy Federhofer and Gordon Watson clinched the doubles point.
UF set the tone of the match in doubles, and it never let off of the gas.
“I thought we played smarter tennis,” Shelton said. “I think we used the lobs effectively in doubles and we used them in singles as well. We just played good, solid, smart tennis."
The momentum transferred over to the singles courts. Mike Alford won his first eight games against Arkansas’ Victor Hoang.
On Friday, Billy Federhofer lost his first match since Feb. 9. But he rebounded Sunday, winning in straight sets.
Johnson clinched his second deciding match of the season at the No. 6 position. Johnson has been a solid addition to the bottom of the lineup -- going 8-3 this season.
“I thought the guys played well from start to finish today,” Shelton said. “I think we were kind of on a mission to really come out there and get out of the blocks early in the doubles, and apply pressure early and execute early. I thought our guys did that.”
UF senior Bob van Overbeek returns a volley. Van Overbeek won only his second match since Feb. 3 against Ole Miss on Friday.
