June 1, 2009

LAS VEGAS - UNLV rookie tennis standout Mehdi Bouras picked up another major honor when he was named co-winner of the UNLV Most Outstanding Male Scholar-Athlete award on May 27.

Bouras tied with golfer Johnny Pinjuv for the top spot among all male student-athletes at UNLV. The honor goes to the male and female student-athletes with the highest cumulative grade point average, while being a significant contributor to their sport during the 2008-09 season and have completed at least one academic year at UNLV.

Bouras, a management major who is a sophomore academically, and Pinjuv both carried a 3.93 GPA. Bouras, who came to the desert from Paris, France, earned All-Mountain West Conference honors in singles this spring and was voted the league's Freshman of the Year after posting an 18-8 record.

He joins former Rebel Romain Massaro as the only men's tennis players to win the award. Massaro, also out of Paris, took home the honor in 2006.

"I am so proud of our student-athletes," said Mike Hamrick, UNLV's Director of Athletics. "Our student-athletes continue to make great progress in the classroom and these are the best of the best. They are very deserving of the recognition and we appreciate all they have done and continue to do for UNLV."