Ottumwa, IA – The Indian Hills Athletic Department has announced its Hy-Vee October Male and Female Student-Athletes of the Month. Sophomore Sara Van Gisteren (Leuth, Netherlands/Young Talent Academy ROC Nijmegen) of the Indian Hills Volleyball team and Cayde de Waal (Brakpan, South Africa/Hoërskool Oosterlig) of the Indian Hills Men's Cross Country team have been honored for their academic and athletic success.

Van Gisteren is closing in on one of the most decorated careers in Indian Hills Volleyball history after a record-setting month in October. An All-American as a freshman, Van Gisteren climbed into the top-five all-time in single season and career kills for the Warriors while leading the Warriors to the regular season Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) regular season title.

Van Gisteren surpassed the 1,000 career kill mark, becoming just the sixth individual in school history to reach the milestone. The outside hitter's current mark of 560 kills this year currently rank second in the nation after totaling 268 total kills in the month, including a program-record 31 kills in a 3-2 win over Iowa Western Community College on October 17.

In the classroom, Van Gisteren was named to the ICCAC All-Academic First-Team as a freshman and was a member of the NJCAA Academic Team of the Year.

de Waal has made an immediate impact on the course in his debut season for the Warriors. One of the top runners through the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC), de Waal earned first-team All-Conference and second-team All-Region honors after a standout performance at the NJCAA Region 11 Championship in Ottumwa.

At the conference meet, de Waal recorded a personal best mark of 24:24.2 in the 8k event to place sixth overall for the Warriors. Two weeks prior, de Waal finished second overall at Indian Hills' home meet in Ottumwa with a time of 24:46.8.

de Waal, who is set to lead the Warriors into this weekend's National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) National Championship in Richmond, VA, is an exercise science major at Indian Hills.

Each month, with the support of the local Ottumwa Hy-Vee, the Indian Hills Athletic Department selects a male and female student-athlete of the month based on their academic and athletic performances throughout the previous month. Fans can catch interviews of each student-athlete from Ottumwa's South Hy-Vee on the GoHillsTV Facebook Page.

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