David Herbster has been named the athletic director at South Dakota.

A reception honoring Herbster will be held at noon Saturday in the DakotaDome ahead of the football program’s annual spring game at 1 p.m.

Herbster, interim A.D. since December 2012, has been with South Dakota since 2007 as an associate athletics director after serving as assistant to the chancellor and athletic director at the University of Nebraska at Omaha from 2005-2007.

Herbster has been instrumental in overseeing the Coyotes’ transition to Division I. He helped secure bids into the Summit League and Missouri Valley Football Conference.…

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Amanda Conlin has signed a national letter of intent to join the UNO volleyball program in 2013, coach Rose Shires announced Thursday. Conlin will also participate in track and field as a shot putter.

“Amanda is an explosive, high-level athlete, who will bring the UNO volleyball program to new heights,” Shires said. “She is the type of player who hits heavy and fast, and she is quick as a blocker pin-to-pin. Most important, Amanda is an amazing competitor. She will also throw the shot put at UNO, becoming a rare two-sport collegiate athlete. We are very excited to have Amanda join our program.”

A native of Glendale, Ariz., Conlin is a 6-foot-2 middle blocker who lettered four years at Deer Valley High School for Coach …

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The final game of the UNO-South Dakota softball series has been canceled because of the cold temperature and rain in Vermillion.

The Mavs took the first two games of the series on Tuesday, and the teams were scheduled to finish the series on Wednesday at 2 p.m.

The Mavericks have had nine games canceled by weather, seven of which were Summit League contests.

UNO is 32-5 and 10-1 in The Summit League. The Mavs have eight games remaining on their schedule, six against conference opponents.

The Mavs are in third place in the standings behind Fort Wayne and North Dakota State, both 6-0. Those teams are set for a three-game series this weekend in Fort Wayne.

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UNO baseball’s weekend games moved to …

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When: 2 p.m. Tuesday
Where: Werner Park
Pitchers: Iowa RH Calvin Mathews (1-4, 5.93 ERA) vs. UNO LH Cory Buckley (1-3, 4.91)

Scouting UNO (14-15): Mavericks have won eight straight games, all in Summit League play. It’s UNO’s longest win streak since an 11-game stretch in 2011. … South Dakota State is second in the league at 5-3, while preseason favorite North Dakota State is third at 3-3. The three Summit teams UNO has played are a combined 6-16 in league games, including 6-8 when not playing the Mavs. … Cory Buckley, Tuesday’s starting pitcher, went 8 for 17 (.471) at the plate in a four-game sweep of Western Illinois. Buckley is on a six-game hitting streak, during which he is hitting .478 (11 for …

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When: 3 p.m. Friday, noon Saturday (DH), noon Sunday.
Where: Boyer Stadium, Macomb, Ill.

Pitchers: Friday, UNO RH Tyler Fox (3-1, 4.00 ERA) vs. WIU RH John White (1-4, 2.89). Saturday, UNO RH Zach Williamsen (1-1, 2.16) and RH Matt Tew (1-4, 6.49) vs. WIU LH Tom Constand (1-2, 3.19) and RH Tyler Willman (0-3, 8.10). Sunday, UNO LH Steven Schoonover (1-2, 4.50) vs. WIU TBA.

Scouting UNO: UNO (10-15, 4-0), which opened league play with four consecutive wins last weekend, hasn’t won five straight since it was a Division II program — April 16 through 20, 2011 — when it swept a four-game series with Missouri Southern and won the first game of a doubleheader against Northwest Missouri State. … Catcher Alex Mortensen, a …

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UNO junior forward Ryan Walters has been named to the All-College Hockey News first team, one of five players from the Western Collegiate Hockey Association named to either the first or second team.

Walters has earned strong consideration for the Hobey Baker Award by scoring 52 points (22-30-52) this season. He scored points in 28 of the last 32 games (22-27-49). His plus/minus rating of +26 is a school record.

He finished as the WCHA’s scoring champion with 16 goals and 24 assists for 40 points and was named to the All-WCHA first team and the All-WCHA academic team. He was also a WCHA Scholar Athlete.…

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When: 6:30 p.m. Wednesday

Where: Tointon Stadium, Manhattan, Kan.

TV: Fox College Sports

Probable pitchers: UNO LH Steven Schoonover (1-1, 5.25 ERA) vs. RH Jake Doller (2-2, 1.85)

Scouting UNO (6-14): Steve Schoonover is expected to make his first start of the year. … Josh Bullock is 0-1 with a 3.46 ERA and is third in the Summit League with four saves. … Alex Mortensen leads the team with a .394 average and is second with nine doubles and a .563 slugging percentage. His .463 on-base percentage ranks third. … Clayton Taylor, who has a nine-game hitting streak, leads the Summit with a .485 on-base percentage, is third with a .352 average, is tied for third with seven doubles and ranks fourth with a .481 …

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Home sweet home.

Seventeen days after its scheduled home opener, the UNO softball team finally gets to take the field at Westside Field at Westbrook on Friday.

The Mavericks (22-4) are scheduled to host South Dakota State (9-15, 1-2) in a doubleheader at 3 p.m. Friday in their first Summit League series. It wraps up with a noon game on Saturday.

The series was originally supposed to be played in Brookings but was moved because of poor field conditions.

On Thursday, UNO practiced outdoors on its home field for the first time since last fall. The Mavericks have been practicing indoors since January.

“Nice temperature, nice day,” UNO coach Jeanne Scarpello said. “We’re excited to play at home and let our fans watch us right …

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This weekend’s softball series between UNO and South Dakota State has been moved to Omaha because of poor field conditions in Brookings, S.D.

The Mavericks and Jackrabbits will play at 3 and 5 p.m. on Friday and at noon Saturday at Westside Field at Westbrook.

It will be the first home games for the Mavericks this season. UNO has had seven home games altered by weather this season, including six Summit League games that were canceled.…

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The University of Nebraska at Omaha released the Mavs’ 2013-14 hockey schedule Wednesday for the inaugural season of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference.

“Our fans are going to see their team competing against many of the best teams in the country every weekend,” said UNO Athletics Director Trev Alberts in a release.

Omaha’s 24-game NCHC schedule will feature two home games and two away games against each league member: Colorado College, Denver, Miami, Minnesota Duluth and North Dakota. The Mavericks also will play home series with St. Cloud State and Michigan and a road series at Western Michigan.

The schedule:

Oct. 5/7: TBD (Exhib.), 7:07 p.m.
Oct. 11: Bentley, 7:37 p.m.
Oct. 12: Bentley, 7:07 p.m.
Oct. 18: at Northern Michigan, 7:37 p.m.
Oct. 19: …

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