May 26, 2011

PALO ALTO, Calif. (UNLVRebels.com) - It was live by the tiebreaker, die by the tiebreaker for the UNLV tennis contingent Thursday at the NCAA Doubles Championship being played at Stanford's Taube Family Tennis Center.

In fact, senior Mehdi Bouras and sophomore Bernard Schoeman, ranked 43rd, took the nation's second-ranked duo, Drew Courtney and Micheal Shabaz of Virginia, to the brink of elimination in the first round.

Enjoying nice playing conditions a day after rain delays in Palo Alto, Calif., the Rebel team came out strong, winning a tiebreaker 7-5 to grab the first set 7-6. The Cavaliers then rallied to take the second set 6-2 to quickly tie it up. The deciding set saw the sides stay on serve throughout, which meant heading back into tiebreaker mode to settle things. That's when Courtney and Shabaz finally took control with their powerful service games, winning 7-2 to make the final count 6-7, 6-2, 7-6.

"Just a heartbreaker out there today -- we held serve and then they just played a better tiebreaker," said UNLV head coach Owen Hambrook. "Mehdi and Bernie fought like crazy today and really represented UNLV well here. I'm very proud of them both. This was Mehdi's best year as a Rebel and he really went out strong in his final tournament. He's earned a lot of honors this year and has always been an unbelievable ambassador for UNLV tennis. There's no doubt he's got a bright future."