Mavs selected for postseason honors

The future is bright for two UNO freshmen.Football's Levi Terrell and soccer's redshirt freshman Nicole Baier both earned major postseason accolades after successful individual seasons.

Baier was named the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association's Player of the Year and the Daktronics South Central Region Player of the Year. Terrell earned MIAA Freshman of the Year honors.

Baier's postseason awards come a year after the Omaha Marian graduate had two surgeries on her left ACL. The injury kept her out for the entire year, and her time away from the pitch earned her a medical redshirt.

Along with her two Player of the Year awards, Baier was also a unanimous first-team all-conference selection. She led the conference in goals (16) and assists (11), finishing with 43 points on the season. She also registered six game-winning goals, tied for the league lead.

Terrell had a breakout year in a season in which he was originally supposed to redshirt. Due to injuries to running backs ahead of him on the depth chart, the Desoto, Mo., native stepped up and became an integral part of the Mavericks' offense. He finished the season with 1,098 yards on 207 carries in only seven games, averaging 156.9 yards per game to win the league's rushing title. Along with earning Freshman of the Year honors, Terrell also made the first-team all-MIAA team.

The all-conference teams for football, soccer and volleyball were recently released, and the Mavs are well-represented.

UNO's football team placed five players on the MIAA first-team. Along with Terrell, senior defensive tackle Zac Keller, junior tight end Mike Higgins, junior offensive lineman Harrison Lingenfelter and kicker Greg Zuerlein were all chosen to be on the MIAA first-team.

Keller fulfilled his preseason expectations when he was tabbed as an all-conference first-team member before the start of the season. The Kearney, Neb., native had 63 tackles, including seven and a half for loss, to finish second on the team. Keller also had three and a half sacks, one fumble recovery and a blocked kick.

Higgins led the Mavs with career highs: 43 receptions, 770 yards and nine touchdowns. The Pickrell, Neb., native averaged 72.8 yards per game, fourth in the MIAA.

Lingenfelter was a leader on the Mavericks' offensive line that allowed a league-low 10 sacks. He helped pave the way for an offense that ranked third in the conference in total offense (448.9 yards per game), second in rushing offense (189.7 yards per game) and fourth in passing offense (259.2 yards per game). UNO also led the league in first downs (205) and time of possession (33:57 minutes per game).

UNO's soccer team had three players on the MIAA first team all-conference. Along with Baier, senior forward Jessica Powers and senior defender Megan Jensen were both chosen for the first team.

Powers closed out her collegiate career with a great year offensively. The Bellevue native finished with eight goals and seven assists for 23 points, all career highs. Those marks were all second on the team behind Baier.

Jensen was chosen for the conference first team after making the second team last season. She was a leader for a UNO defense that allowed 15 goals on the season. The defense also held opponents to under 10 shots 13 times. Jensen scored her only goal of the year on Oct. 29, a game-winner against Missouri Southern.

Senior middleblocker Ellen Thommes was the only Maverick to make the MIAA first-team for volleyball. She is the first Mav to make the MIAA's first team after UNO joined the conference before the start of the 2008 season. Thommes is second in the conference with a .399 hitting percentage and 103 blocks. She is on pace to finish with the second-highest attack percentage in school history. Thommes is also the UNO career leader with 3.22 kills per set and 1.02 blocks per set.