College Tennis News - Florida Gators Defeat Arkansas, 4-0

The Florida men’s tennis team beat Arkansas, 4-0, on Sunday afternoon at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex. The Gators improved to 10-8 on the season and evened their Southeastern Conference record at 4-4. The Razorbacks fell to 12-12 overall and 0-9 in the league.

“It was a good team effort,” said head coach Bryan Shelton after the match. “I thought the guys played well from start to finish today. 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.”

The Gators claimed the momentum with a solid doubles performance, jumping out to a 4-1 lead on all three courts. Stephane Piro and Bob van Overbeek won 8-3 against No. 35 Manfred Jeske and Mike Nott of Arkansas on court one and seconds later, Billy Federhofer and Gordon Watson clinched the doubles point with an 8-3 win at No. 2 doubles over Hall Fess and Santiago Munoz.

“I thought we played smarter tennis,” said Coach Shelton. “I think we used the lobs effectively in doubles and we used them in singles as well. We just played good, solid, smart tennis.”

Florida’s strong play continued into singles, as Alford won his first eight games against Hoang on court four, and won 6-0, 6-2. Federhofer closed out Ward at No. 3 singles, 6-3, 6-2, to give UF a 3-0 lead overall in the match. Johnson secured the team victory for the Gators, beating Parlic 6-3, 6-2 on court six.

“In singles, we got off to a really good start again, like we did two days ago,” said Coach Shelton. “The difference today was that we just kept playing. When they tried to mount a comeback and get loud and really get fired up, we were able to sustain our level and even raise our level in certain spots.

“I was proud of the guys to be able to bounce back. 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.”

Next weekend, the Gators will travel to Ole Miss on Friday for a 5 p.m. match, and will return to Gainesville to host Mississippi State on Sunday at 1 p.m. Results will be posted on GatorZone.com following both matches. Live scoring for Sunday’s home match will be available on GatorZone.com.

March 31, 2013

Gainesville, Fla.

Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex

#20 Florida 4, #53 Arkansas 0

Singles Competition

1. Stephane Piro (UF) vs. Manfred Jeske (ARK) 6-2, 4-5 DNF

2. Florent Diep (UF) vs. Mike Nott (ARK) 6-3, 4-5 DNF

3. Billy Federhofer (UF) def. Mike Ward (ARK) 6-3, 6-2

4. Mike Alford (UF) def. Victor Hoang (ARK) 6-0, 6-2

5. Gordon Watson (UF) vs. Santiago Munoz (ARK) 7-6 (1), 1-0 DNF

6. Luke Johnson (UF) def. Jovan Parlic (ARK) 6-3, 6-2

Doubles Competition

1. Piro/van Overbeek (UF) def. #35 Jeske/Nott (ARK) 8-3

2. *#53 Federhofer/Watson (UF) def. Fess/Munoz (ARK) 8-3

3. Alford/Johnson (UF) vs. Fess/Munoz (ARK) 5-4 DNF

Match Notes:

Florida 10-8, 4-4; National ranking #20

Arkansas 12-12, 0-9; National ranking #53

Order of finish: Doubles (1, 2); Singles (4, 3, 1)

T – 2:28