Melbourne's two tries were scored in the opening half by impressive second-rower Hugh Pyle and No.8 Colby Fainga'a.
The Hurricanes responded with three tries of their own from Nehe Milner-Skudder, Ardie Savea and Matt Proctor, but it wasn't quite enough.
After failing to win a single trial game in their opening three pre-seasons, the Rebels are now two-from-two in 2014, having also edged out the Waratahs 33-28 in Albury last weekend.
"Individually you can take confidence from them,'' said Ellison.
"You don't know what the other team is working on but when you're trying to build some belief and a mindset those wins are good, especially against a pretty good Hurricanes side.''
Ellison, 30, spent most of his time in New Zealand with the Hurricanes and the Highlanders before moving to Japan.
He also has good memories of Melbourne after playing in New Zealand's gold medal-winning sevens outfit at the 2006 Commonwealth Games.
"It won't take me long now to get accustomed to my new teammates,'' he said.
"I've come down here here really keen to help out.
"I haven't come here for a holiday, that's for sure.''
Pyle expects the Rebels to have a better idea of where they stand after taking on a strong Queensland Reds outfit to round out their pre-season campaign on Friday night.
"We're still not quite where we want to be, but we'll take a lot of things out of this game,'' said the big second-rower, who looked to be on the verge of a Wallabies call-up last year before suffering a dislocated shoulder.
- AAP
