LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – For the second straight season, East Stroudsburg University field hockey student-athlete Jady van Gils, a two-time NFHCA National Player of the Year, was selected to the exclusive Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Fall Top 10, the conference announced Wednesday afternoon.

The PSAC Top 10, initiated in the 1998-99 academic year, is awarded to student-athletes who excel in both the classroom and athletic competition. PSAC Fall Top 10 honorees must participate in either football, volleyball, men's and women's cross country, field hockey, or men's and women's soccer.

This season, van Gils set career highs in points (35), goals (12), and assists (11), leading the Warriors in both points and assists. She ranked first in assists, fourth in points, and tied for sixth in goals in the PSAC. Nationally, she tied for fourth in assists and tied for seventh in points.

Over her career, van Gils started 79 of 81 games, recording 28 goals, 29 assists, and nine game-winning goals. Her 29 career assists rank third in program history, and her 11 assists this season are tied for the sixth-most by a Warrior.

In addition to being a two-time NFHCA National Player of the Year, her accolades include two-time PSAC Athlete of the Year, three-time All-PSAC honoree, and two-time NFHCA Region Player of the Year. She is also a Synapse Sports First Team All-America selection.

Arguably, her biggest individual honor was being named a finalist for the DII Honda Athlete of the Year for the second straight year. She is representing field hockey as one of 11 finalists for the prestigious award.

In the classroom, van Gils holds a 3.77 GPA while pursuing her bachelor's degree in sport management and has been honored as a PSAC Scholar-Athlete three times.

van Gils becomes the second ESU field hockey player honored on the PSAC Fall Top 10 twice, joining Katie Horst, who did so during the 1997-98 seasons. Last year, van Gils became the fifth ESU field hockey player honored, joining the aforementioned Horst, Emily Howell (2016), Sydney McCarthy (2018), and Hannah Barbush (2021).

The PSAC Top 10 award winners for each season are placed on the ballot for the Pete Nevins Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award, which will be announced in the spring. One men's and one women's student-athlete will be selected to receive the PSAC's top scholar-athlete honor, which was renamed in 2008 to recognize the contributions of Pete Nevins, ESU's sports information director from 1969-2002.

ESU now has 63 recipients of the PSAC Top 10 award, the fifth most among the 17 PSAC institutions in the conference.

 
2024 PSAC Fall Top 10
 
Men
 
Dan Gibney, IUP
Brayden Long, Slippery Rock
Sverre Orten, Gannon
Freddie Retter, Kutztown
Brady Rimple, Bloomsburg
 
Women
 
Delaney Bittner, Shepherd
Jennifer Cichra, Slippery Rock
Anna Igims, Slippery Rock
Cassidy Snider, Clarion
Jady van Gils, East Stroudsburg