April 19, 2011

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - As part of the UNLV men's tennis team's annual Senior Day celebration on Saturday, new Runnin' Rebel head coach Dave Rice will pair up with second-year Rebel football coach Bobby Hauck in a brief doubles exhibition at the Fertitta Tennis Complex. The event is free and open to the public.

UNLV star Mehdi Bouras will be honored on the court before his team's final home match against San Diego State, which will begin at 10 a.m. After the Rebels and Aztecs play doubles, which lasts approximately one hour, the intermission before singles will feature Rice and Hauck taking on a doubles team made up former Rebel standout and 1997 NCAA Doubles Champion Tim Blenkiron and one of his current court pupils, 10-year-old Jack Hambrook.

Blenkiron, who was inducted into UNLV's Athletics Hall of Fame in 2008, oversees the No Quit Tennis Academy in Las Vegas. He is no stranger to big doubles matches on campus as he and another former Rebel once faced Andre Agassi and Brad Gilbert in a USTA tournament held at a packed Fertitta in 1998. Hambrook, who is a member of the No Quit Academy, is also a familiar face around the courts as his father, Owen, is in his eighth season as head coach of the UNLV men's team.

The exhibition will consist of one tiebreaker-style game to seven points. The Rebels and Aztecs will then re-take the courts for singles play.

"We thought this would be a fun thing to do to help send our only senior off in style during the last home match of the season," Owen Hambrook said. "I want to thank Coach Hauck and Coach Rice for being such good sports and we can't wait to see how they'll do on the court together."