July 30, 2003
LAS VEGAS - Owen Hambrook has been named men's tennis interim head coach while Lady Rebel head coach Kevin Cory has added the title of interim director of tennis, the UNLV athletics department announced Wednesday.
The pair will keep those titles for at least through the 2003-04 tennis season.
"Owen Hambrook has the tennis knowledge and experience to be a head coach and we are confident that our men's program will be in good hands in the coming season." UNLV senior associate athletics director Jerry Koloskie said.
"Kevin Cory has won at least a share of three conference championships during his four years and has proved that he is more than capable of overseeing the overall tennis program and its facilities and we feel fortunate that he will add that title this season," Cory is a two-time Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year and the 2002 Intercollegiate Tennis Association West Region Coach of the Year. He has posted an overall record of 62-31, including a sparkling 28-9 mark in Mountain West Conference play, while leading the Lady Rebels to appearances in the nation's top 20 as well as trips to the NCAA championships the last two seasons.
Hambrook has spent the last four years as an assistant with Rebel tennis, including serving on the staff of the 2003 Mountain West Conference regular-season champions, and the 2000 and 2002 league tournament champion women's squads. In 2002, he was named ITA Regional Assistant Coach of the Year.
The certified tennis professional joined UNLV after having served as director of the state's largest junior program - the Junior Tennis Academy at the Sports Club of Las Vegas from 1996-2000. Previously, Hambrook served as the tennis pro at the MGM Grand Hotel for two years. Active in the USTA, he has been head coach for the Southern Nevada USTA Training Center and was honored as a USTA High Performance Coach in both 1998 and 2000.
A 1991 graduate of Northwest Missouri State, he was a three-year member of the Bearcats' tennis team. Hambrook and his wife, Julie, have a son, Jack and a daughter, Hannah.
