Raider Profile - Quocmy Nguyen - Men's Volleyball
By Jim Hague
His name is definitely the most unique and distinguishable on the Rutgers-Newark men’s volleyball roster.
Quocmy Nguyen is a junior libero for the Scarlet Raiders. He’s been a mainstay for the past three years and has really blossomed this season, as the Scarlet Raiders have enjoyed their best season since transforming from an NCAA Division I program to Division III, like the rest of the school’s sports.
Quocmy Nguyen is of Vietnamese descent, but he was the first member of his family to be born in the United States.
There lies the origin of his very distinctive first name.
“It means ‘American,’” Nguyen said. “I was born here, so that’s how I got the name.”
But saying Quocmy isn’t easy when calling out to him or just saying hello.
“Everyone just calls me ‘Q,’” Nguyen said. “It’s much easier.”
There’s no doubt that Q has made his mark this season with the Scarlet Raiders, after biding his time for the previous two seasons.
It’s a remarkable story how Nguyen ended up at R-N.
Head men’s volleyball coach Pedro Trevino was recruiting Nguyen’s high school teammate at Emmaus High in Pennsylvania Travis Mintzer.
“He basically came up to me and said, ‘I want you to know that I’m coming to Rutgers-Newark,’” Trevino said. “We weren’t recruiting him. He just said he was coming.”
So basically Nguyen recruited himself.
“I had a lot of other offers, like schools in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania,” Nguyen said. “But they were all really far away. Travis is a very good friend of mine and we’ve known each other since middle school. I knew Rutgers was a good school, so I e-mailed the coach and told him that I wanted to come.”
As it turned out, Nguyen plays club volleyball on a team called Club Lehigh with Mintzer and fellow Scarlet Raider standout Cody Chidsey, so there was definitely a camaraderie and closeness already going on.
“Once I got accepted by Rutgers-Newark, I knew I was going there,” Nguyen said. “Cody and Travis and I have been playing club together and we wanted to be able to build on that.”
All three long-time friends then traveled east to Newark to become a member of the Scarlet Raiders’ volleyball squad.
Nguyen was basically a setter in high school, but he also played some libero as well.
“Don’t get me wrong, I love setting,” Nguyen said. “It’s awesome. But being a libero is a good position to be in. I knew coming in that I was going to have to play libero here.”
Being a libero on a volleyball team is basically a thankless position. A libero doesn’t get credit for scoring and is on the floor to just focus on being a defensive specialist. Liberos never grab the headlines or the attention.
“He told me that he thought he could play libero for us,” Trevino said. “And every year, he’s just gotten better and better at it. He’s a leader for us in the back row. He goes out all the time, every single ball. And I’ve always thought he was one of our best passers. He’s reading the court better.”
Trevino said that Nguyen has become like a coach on the floor.
“He comes off the court and basically he’ll tell us what we were doing wrong,” Trevino said. “It makes things so much easier, because we don’t have to pay attention to other things. He’s basically doing our work for us. He’s actually telling me what we should do.”
Trevino has given Nguyen free rein to run the Scarlet Raiders on the court.
“He owns the court now,” Trevino said. “It’s his show. It makes it easier for the other guys. Having someone take charge of the defense is huge.”
Nguyen knows his role is vital to the Scarlet Raiders’ success.
“Defense is what wins championships,” Nguyen said. “Even though I don’t get a lot of recognition, it doesn’t matter. I know that we can’t win without a libero passing the ball. The responsibilities mean a lot to me.”
Nguyen likes the way his friends have also developed with their roles.
“Cody has been tremendous,” Nguyen said. “He’s become a great player. It means so much to me to be able to play with him and to see how far he’s come. I’ve been with Travis since we were little. We know each other’s tendencies. I’m comfortable on the court with them.”
Trevino loves Nguyen’s personality.
“He’s a funny kid with a great sense of humor,” Trevino said. “He goofs around at times. But he’s also a hard worker. When the game starts, he’s all business. He’s stays focused and gets going. All he wants to do is win. He was a part of the program when we didn’t win. I’ve seen the transformation in him over the last three years, going from an immature, goofy kid to the player he is today.
Added Trevino, “It’s all about his hard work. I believe he’s able now to be considered with the best liberos in the conference and from what I’ve seen, he’s among the top 10 in the country. If we’re playing well, it’s because he’s playing well. It all starts with him. He’s out there to give it his best and if he’s not at his best, we’re not going to win. To be honest, we’re winning now because of him.”
Nguyen is a biology major and hopes to be able to go on to dental school when he completes his undergraduate work.
“That’s all down the road a little,” Nguyen said. “Right now, we have some more business to attend to.”
The Scarlet Raiders are 16-8, so the man they call ‘Q’ is quite the answer.
“I’ve been in the program for three years and the last couple of years have been pretty tough,” Nguyen said. “But we all stuck with it and gained a lot of experience. That’s all paying off.”
Nguyen also said that he was glad he basically recruited himself to go to R-N.
“I’m happy I e-mailed the coach and ended up here,” Nguyen said. “It’s all worked out well.”
