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Best of 2015: Mavericks Make History

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The men's hockey team made history at the 2015 Frozen Four

Over the past year, UNO has continued making history. Whether it be in the classroom, on the field, right here in Omaha, or across the world - the students, faculty, and staff of UNO have set the bar for what it means to be a successful and engaged metropolitan university.

This story, which highlights the amazing work being done by UNO student-athletes, is one of 15 that will be published through the month of December to highlight the "Best of 2015" at UNO.

Mavericks Make it to the Frozen Four

frozen four

This year, for the first time in school history, a Maverick athletic team earned victories in an NCAA tournament at the Divison I level when men's hockey won the NCAA Midwest Regional by defeating Harvard and RIT by a score of 4-0 and 4-1, respectively, securing the team's very first appearance at the Frozen Four.

While the apperance ultimately ended in a loss for the Mavericks against the eventual 2015 NCAA Men's Hockey champions, the Providence Friars, hockey fever took over the UNO campus and the city of Omaha as a whole.

UNO Student Athletes Experience Classroom Success

women's tennis

By the end of the 2014-2015 academic school year, the student-athletes of Omaha Athletics achieved a cumulative all-student grade point average of better than 3.40 for two of the last three semesters, which places UNO as one of the top 10 schools in the country for academic performance.

Volleyball Makes Historic Summit League Run

volleyball

In their first year of eligibility since moving to Division I, the women's volleyball team made a historic run through the Summit League, which ended just shy of Summit League title and automatic NCAA tournament bid with a 3-2 loss to last year's champion Denver Pioneers following wins against No. 6 seed Oral Roberts and No. 2 seed IUPUI.

The team made it to the tournament following an impressive 8-1 run in their final nine regular season games, which earned senior Kimberly Bailey honors as Summit Defense Player of the Year and Coach of the Year honors for Head Coach Rose Shires.

Hockey Opens Baxter Arena As No. 1 Team

UNO v. Air Force

Just ahead of the very first games to be held in the new Baxter Arena, the men's hockey team made history as the first program in the Division I era to be ranked as the nation's top team in any sport following a 4-0-0 start to kick off the 2015-2016 season.

The team ended up being ranked No. 1 by the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll and No. 2 by the USCHO.com poll for two weeks in a row.