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Setter Roque Nido is earning a college men’s volleyball national award to cap off a month that featured him leading NJIT to two victories against nationally ranked teams.
Nido was selected on Sunday as the Off the Block National Player of the Month for January.
The Off the Block National Player of the Month recognizes the best individual performances from NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball players during the month and gives fans from around the world the chance to determine who was the best player through online voting. It is also the only college men’s volleyball national monthly award.
Nido finished the month in the nation’s top 20 with a 9.23 assists per game average and guided the Highlanders to more than a .400 attack percentage in three matches.
NJIT finished with a season-high .425 attack percentage in a sweep against No. 11 Purdue Fort Wayne on Jan. 23. With Nido running the offense, the team also hit .442 in the opening week of the season to sweep then-No. 12 USC for the program’s first all-time win against the Trojans.
Along with his offensive performance, Nido had both a season-high 10 digs and four blocks in a four-game road victory against Lindenwood that started NJIT’s current four-match winning streak.
The National Player of the Month is comprised of two rounds of voting.
The first round placed candidate on one of five ballots based on their position. Each winner and the runner-up from all the ballots who received the most votes qualified for the championship round.
Nido in the championship round received 3,163 votes and 57.5 percent of the total vote. Penn State setter Cole Bogner finished as the runner-up with 20.8 percent, while Long Beach State libero Mason Briggs garnered 16.9 percent of the vote.
Nido advanced to the championship round after receiving 3,775 votes to win the Setter Division.
The National Player of the Month is one of two awards solely determined by the fans. Similar to the monthly award, the Off the Block Fan Choice National Player of the Year is an annual event at the end of the season with fans deciding the winner of this 64-player bracket-style tournament through online voting.
As a National Player of the Month, Nido will receive an automatic berth to the Fan Choice National Player of the Year Tournament.
Off the Block was founded in 2011 and is the nation’s leaders in college men’s volleyball coverage.