A record-setting serving performance from Long Beach State setter Moni Nikolov is being capped off with a national award.
Off the Block announced Friday that a nationwide voting committee selected Nikolov as the 2025 National Server of the Year.
The Off the Block National Server of the Year is an annual award that recognizes the top individual serving performance from a NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball player during the regular season.
Nikolov set a NCAA single-season record with 106 aces and had a nation-best 0.96 aces per game average.
The freshman from Bulgaria had at least four aces in 14 matches, including a season-high eight aces in a regular season victory against Pepperdine. Nikolov also had a match-high four aces in the NCAA Tournament finals as Long Beach State swept UCLA to win the program’s first national title since 2019.
The voting committee for the National Server of the Year was comprised of more than 25 college coaches and media members from around the nation. The top two vote-getters were named finalists for this national honor.
Nikolov finished with 80 votes to beat the runner-up UC Irvine outside attacker Hilir Henno by 52 votes.
This is the 13th year that Off the Block has presented the National Server of the Award.
Off the Block is a national award winning website that launched in 2011 and is the nation’s leader in college men’s volleyball coverage.
2025 National Server of the Year voting results
1. Moni Nikolov, Long Beach State – 80 votes
2. Hilir Henno, UC Irvine – 28 votes
T-3. Andrew Deardorff, Saint Francis – 4 votes
T-3. Keoni Thiim, BYU – 4 votes
T-5. Wojciech Nowak, Menlo – 3 votes
T-5. Shane Wetzel, Ohio State – 3 votes
7. Luke Kraft, Maryville – 2 votes
T-8. Anthony Cherfan, UC San Diego – 1 vote
T-8. Maxim Grigoriev, UC Irvine – 1 vote
T-8. Ryan McElligott, Loyola – 1 vote