IOWA CITY, Iowa – University of Iowa student-athletes Dionne van Aalsum (field hockey) and Kaden Wetjen (football) were named September’s Student-Athletes of the Month, the Iowa Student-Athlete Advisory Committee announced on Thursday.

Van Aalsum, a junior from Castricum, Netherlands, scored 13 goals and recorded two assists during the month of September. She leads the nation with 16 goals and averages 2.0 goals per game. During the team’s undefeated month, van Aalsum scored three game-winning goals. She was efficient with a .333 shooting percentage, while holding a shots-on-goal percentage of .667. Van Aalsum scored on two of her three penalty stroke attempts in September.

Wetjen, a senior from Williamsburg, Iowa, was twice named the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week in September. He leads the team with 536 all-purpose yards through five games. Wetjen ranks first in the nation in combined kick return yardage (465), first in punt return average (31.5) and second in kick return average (35.5).

In Iowa’s win over UMass, Wetjen amassed a career-high 216 return yards (182 punt and 34 kickoff) and a career-high 236 all-purpose yards with two touchdowns. The 182 punt return yards are the fourth-most in a single game in Big Ten history. Wetjen’s 95-yard punt return touchdown against UMass made history, tying a Big Ten and Iowa record. It was the longest punt return in Kinnick Stadium history. His 20-yard touchdown run on a reverse against the Minutemen was his first career rushing touchdown and makes Wetjen what is believed to be the first player in Iowa history to have a rushing, receiving, punt return and kickoff return score in his career.

In the win at Rutgers, Wetjen had a game-best 183 all-purpose yards, including tying an Iowa record with a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown on the opening kickoff. The 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown is the sixth in school history and the second of Wetjen’s career. He is the second Hawkeye to return an opening kickoff for a touchdown (C.J. Jones vs. USC in the 2003 Orange Bowl).