Last Week’s Stats: 7.50 points per set, 6.67 kills per set, 2.00 digs per set, 1.67 blocks per set, .389 hitting percentage
It’s an NEC/Molten Player of the Week three-peat for van Gisteren after the red-hot right-side hitter led a swarming LIU squad to its fourth-straight victory last week. The senior put up monstrous numbers in the Sharks’ lone match of the week, a straight-set win at Saint Peter’s on Wednesday. That LIU win followed a stretch that saw the Sharks knock off back-to-back ACC opponents (Virginia Tech and Duke) and a Big East foe (Butler). Racking up 20 kills and five assisted blocks for a whopping 22.5 points against the Peacocks, van Gisteren led the nation last week with 6.67 kills per set while her 7.50 points per set were good for second in Division I. With the score knotted up at 19-all in the opening set, van Gisteren sealed the 25-22 win and set the tone for the remainder of the match by contributing three kills to the Sharks’ game-ending 6-3 run. In addition, she became just the second NEC hitter this season to register 20-or-more kills in a three-set match. Her three weekly awards from the NEC lead all honorees this season. Van Gisteren begins conference play as the league’s leader in points per set (4.75), while her 3. 89 kills per set are good for second on the circuit. She also ranks inside the league’s top five in service aces per set (5th – 0.34) and blocks per set (7th – 0.84).