PARAMUS, N.J. – In earning the 2015-16 John Stauff Female Scholar Athlete of the Year award, student-athlete Nadia Vaso became the first player in Bergen Community College history to accomplish the feat. Presented at the annual National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region XIX awards gala, the award honors a female student-athlete who excels both in academics and athletics.
“Nadia exemplifies the best of our student-athletes,” Managing Director of Athletics Jorge Hernandez said. “As the College’s first recipient of the award, she will be a model for generations of young women to come.”
No stranger to accolades, Vaso, of Fort Lee, has starred in both the classroom and the gymnasium. In addition to maintaining a 4.0 GPA, which recently earned her the NJCAA Pinnacle Academic Achievement award, she participated on a team of Bergen business students who won the inaugural New Jersey County College Case Competition sponsored by Rutgers Business School-Newark in April.
On the court, a setter, Vaso earned back-to-back region and conference first-team honors in 2014 and 2015, leading the Bulldogs to the region tournament finals. She ranked 34th in the country for assists per set (6.65).
Off the playing surface, Vaso contributes to several clubs and organizations including the College’s Italian club, student government association and Phi Theta Kappa, as well as volunteer work with a Cliffside Park animal shelter.
Vaso will graduate from Bergen in May 2017.
Based in Paramus, Bergen Community College (www.bergen.edu), a public two-year coeducational college, enrolls 15,000 students at locations in Paramus, the Philip Ciarco Jr. Learning Center in Hackensack and Bergen Community College at the Meadowlands in Lyndhurst. The College offers associate degree, certificate and continuing education programs in a variety of fields. More students graduate from Bergen than any other community college in the state.
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