Fall Athletics Preview

From the Summer 2016 UNO Magazine – Explore other articles

Now in their second full year of Division I competition, the Mavericks look to build upon seasons in which they made it to three of the Summit League fall championships.

Remember to #WearBlackGetLoud and show your #MavSpirit as you cheer on the Mavericks this fall!

Men’s Soccer

Seven starters return for the UNO men’s soccer team, which aims to return to the postseason after playing in its first Summit League Championship semifinal last season.

UNO went 9-6-3 overall and 3-2-1 in league play in 2015. The Mavericks opened the season winning their first four matches and earned the first ever top 25 ranking in program history. Caniglia Field became a true home field advantage as the Mavericks finished with a 7-1-1 mark there.

Several key players from last year’s squad have completed their eligibility, including Emir Alihodzic, drafted in the third round of the MLS Super draft. Key contributors Josh Christensen, Felipe da Silva and Logan Mendez also have departed.

“We lost a great group of players,” Head Coach Jason Mims says. “The experience they brought to the table last season helped us achieve some of our goals, but we are not going to be satisfied with just reaching some of those goals.”

Fortunately, the cupboard is far from empty for Mims in 2016. Senior Mark Moulton led UNO with 20 points last season on seven goals and six assists. That earned Moulton First Team All-Summit League and Third Team CoSIDA Academic All-American honors.

The Mavericks allowed only 1.14 goals per game last season and look to improve on that stat in the fall with Joseph Ghitis returning in goal. Ghitis finished last season with a 4-4-2 mark and a 0.90 goals-against average with 29 saves. Defenders Michael Jaime, Jake McCain and Denzel Woods also return.

Back to anchor the midfield is Lalo Gamboa, who led the team in minutes played. He will be joined by Cole Nelson, who earned Summit League All-Tournament honors last season as a freshman, and Fazlo Alihodzic, a Summit League All-Newcomer team selection last season after registering six points.

Also returning are Noor Hamadi, who had three goals and two assists last season in 17 games, plus Zac Marquess, Sage Moore, Quinn Nelson and Jacob Weiler.

“We have a wealth of experience returning this fall,” Mims says. “The returning starters have a taste of what it takes to be noticed on the national level. We have to continue to develop and push ourselves not only to maintain our current position but to improve upon it.”

Newcomers include Elvir Ibisevic, Joey McCain, and Seth Rinderknecht, all of whom graduated high school early and enrolled at UNO in January. The trio, part of UNO’s top 25 recruiting class, have been training with the team all spring. Mims expects to add at least five more players to help UNO make an even a bigger splash in the college soccer scene.

“This year’s recruiting class is an impressive one,” commented Mims. “We have players entering our program with national and international experience, which in the long run will help make our side even stronger and continue to build our style of soccer.”

The Mavericks will play 10 games at Caniglia Field, including the regular season opener against San Francisco Aug. 26. Other notable home matches include Drake (Sept. 2), Air Force (Sept. 23), and Valparaiso (Oct. 3). The Mavericks will play at crosstown rival 
Creighton Sept. 5.

The road schedule includes matches at 2015 national champion Stanford (Sept. 18) and at Bradley (Oct. 18). UNO opens Summit League play at home against IUPUI (Oct. 1) and will host Eastern Illinois (Oct. 8) and Denver (Oct. 29).

“Our 2016 schedule features five teams that reached at least the second round of the NCAA National Tournament last year,” Mims says. 
“I feel our team will be up to this challenge and prepare us not only for the Summit 
League schedule but also for a run to the national tournament.”

Women’s Soccer

Investments in playing time in 2015 should pay a handsome return in 2016 for the UNO women’s soccer team — as in nine returning starters.

Leading goal scorer Chelsi Rohloff and all-conference defender Hannah Wampler both graduated, but lots of familiar faces will be back for the Mavericks.

That starts with defenders Ava Doetsch and Lauren Lawler, who last year anchored a defensive unit that allowed only 1.80 goals per game. Also helping the Maverick cause was goalie Katlyn Schochenmaier, fifth in saves and fourth in goals-against average in the Summit League last year.

UNO finished 5-11-2 overall and 2-6 in the Summit. Eight of the losses came by two goals or fewer.

Other returnees include defenders Jessica Bollinger, Abby Hansen, Emily Michaels, Cydney Skinner and Katie Vanderzwaag; midfielders Lydia Holtmann, Natalie Johnson and Emily Romero; forward Marin Dregelid; and goalkeeper Haley Shelton.

The top returning goal scorer for the Mavericks is Holtmann, who had two goals and an assist in 2015. Dregelid added a goal and an assist last season. Also returning are forwards Izzy Anders, Nyoke Dumba, Nicole Hagel and Abby Meader; midfielders Leah Lawler and Kelsey Stithem; and defender Claire Pueschner.

“We feel very confident with the team that we have returning,” Head Coach Don Klosterman says. “We have grown a lot this spring, and I feel that we can be a contender in the Summit League this season.”

Klosterman added six players for 2016, including transfers Carlie Cook and Erin Dimon. Both enrolled at UNO for the spring semester and trained with the team all spring.

“The experience that Carlie and Erin have will make an immediate impact on our program next season,” Klosterman says. “They showed us a lot of good things in the spring, and we can’t wait until the rest of our class can join us in the fall.”

UNO opens 2016 at home against UMKC Aug. 19 then begins the road schedule Sept. 9 at Missouri State. Other notable nonconference home matches are Creighton (Aug. 26), Kansas State (Sept. 4), Dayton (Sept. 11) and Eastern Washington (Sept. 14). The Mavericks open Summit League play at home against North Dakota State Sept. 29. UNO also hosts Oral Roberts (Oct. 7), IPFW (Oct. 9) and South Dakota State (Oct. 21) in league play.

“Our 2016 schedule brings in opponents from all over the country,” Klosterman says. “Our tough nonconference schedule will help prepare us to make our run in the Summit League tournament this fall.”

Volleyball

The UNO volleyball team is coming off its finest season in the Division I era as the 2015 Mavericks made a memorable run to the Summit League Championship final match.

UNO finished just one set away from qualifying for the NCAA Tournament before falling to Summit champion Denver.

That put UNO at 19-13 overall in 2015 but 12-4 in the Summit League, good for third place in the regular-season conference standings.

Six experienced seniors from that team have graduated, but UNO returns three starters. That includes junior setter Sydney O'Shaughnessy, All-Summit last season after averaging 10.25 assists per set. She ranked in the top 35 nationally 
for total assists and worked her way into UNO’s top 10 list for most career assists.

Sophomore outside hitter Gessica Gdowski was named to the Summit League All-Freshmen Team after stepping into a starting role midway through the year to average 1.65 kills and 2.13 digs per set. Junior outside hitter Mackenzie Horkey was third on the team in kills (2.54) and digs (3.01) per set.

Also back — for a 27th season — is Head Coach Rose Shires, the winningest coach in program history and Summit League Coach of the Year for 2015.

“With us having three returning starters, that will give us some consistency to our starting lineup this year,” Shires says. “Sydney brings in a lot of experience as a two-year starting setter, and Mackenzie is someone who can score at crunch time and has improved her backcourt play to bring up the passing and defensive aspect of our team. Gessica also had an outstanding freshman season. Although she was sidelined with an injury in the spring, we expect great things from her when she returns to competitive form.”

Filling the loss of last year's veteran senior class is a crop of seven talented newcomers: rightside hitter Macy Anderson, setter Hannah Angeli, middle blocker Ellie Brown, outside hitter Chloe Dousette, defensive specialists Ashley Smith and Olivia Spanton and middle hitter Daria Taylor.

“We expect most, if not all, of our incoming freshmen to challenge for court time immediately,” Shires says. “What this class brings us is the height that we need to compete at the net. And with two defensive players in Olivia and Ashley, that will help fill the void of losing Kimberly Bailey, who was the Summit League’s Defensive Player of the Year as a senior.”

UNO’s 2016 schedule includes a match with NCAA Tournament qualifier Iowa State to kick off the home slate. UNO then hosts the annual Omaha Classic, now a six-team, nine-match event, Sept. 2-3 at Baxter Arena.

Cross Country

The UNO cross country team heads into a new season looking to move up the Summit League ladder after finishing fifth in the league championship last year.

The Mavericks will be without graduated seniors Kourtney Osentoski, Perla Gutierrez, Emily Moore and Avery Schmidt but expect to be competitive with a solid core of returning runners.

“We’re excited by our incoming class,” says Chris Richardson, head cross country coach. “We feel they will add to the strong depth that we have returning including Alyssa Averhoff and Rosie Gensichen. We also think we’ll get bigger contributions from Lauren Houston after very good indoor and outdoor track seasons.”

Averhoff and Gensichen scored in every meet for the Mavericks last season with Gensichen leading all UNO runners in a meet at South Dakota State in early October. Gensichen and Averhoff finished third and fourth, respectively, at the Summit League Championship. Averhoff was fourth and Gensichen fifth at the NCAA Regionals at Lawrence, Kansas, in November.

Among the four newcomers joining the Mavericks this fall, two hail from Nebraska and two from Iowa. Lincoln native Willa Koenig was the Nebraska Class A-2 District Cross Country Champion and a four-time state qualifier while running for Lincoln Pius X. Renata Vaquier-Chavez was a three-time Nebraska State Class B qualifier while competing for Elkhorn.

Casey Middleswart ran for Urbandale and was a two-time Iowa state cross country qualifier 
while Sarah Steffensmeier was a three-time state qualifier in cross country at Fort Madison High School.

The Mavericks’ 2016 schedule was still taking shape as of press time. The Summit League Championship will be held in Macomb, Illinois Oct. 29.