Raul Urshela '15
Raul Urshela has had a profound impact on both the men's volleyball and soccer teams since his arrival in Brooklyn four years ago via his hometown of Orlando, Florida.
In the season prior to Urshela’s arrival, the SJC men's volleyball team amassed just two wins. In Urshela’s rookie campaign, the team collected six wins and improved upon that total in each of his four years, culminating with the program achieving their first .500 season during the 2015 season. Overall, the volleyball team totaled a solid 31 wins over his four-year career.
The middle hitter from the Sunshine State shattered all of the program’s volleyball records, graduating as the all-time Bears leader in kills (841), kills per set (3.03), attack percentage (.164), attack attempts (2378), solo blocks (98), block assists (90), total blocks (187), blocks per set (0.67), points (1071.0), points per set (3.9), sets played (278) and matches played (79).
Behind the stellar play of Urshela, St. Joseph’s reached double digit wins (10), which was their best record in program history. He topped the Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in blocks (1.19 per set) and ranked second in the league in kills (4.15 per set), hitting percentage (.290) and points (5.4 per set) in conference play this season. Urshela was a HVIAC Player of the Week for a Bears-record 11 times in his career and received HVIAC All-Conference honors in three of his four seasons.
On the pitch, Urshela was instrumental in the growth of the Bears soccer program which had its inception during his freshman season and was capped off with Urshela being selected as Association of Division III Independents Rookie of the Year. The standout forward received All-AD3I honors in all four seasons, finishing his career as the Bears all-time leader with 33 goals and 70 points. Urshela also helped lead the team to their first .500 season in 2014 with seven wins, matching the total number of wins the team was able to compile over the course of their first three seasons and included their first-ever winning season in conference play.
Urshela topped off an already impressive athletic resume by playing a sport in all three seasons during his senior year earning a spot as a key reserve on the men's basketball team.
Despite his demanding schedule on both the field and court, what was perhaps most impressive among Urshela’s accolades were his academic accomplishments, as he maintained a 3.8 cumulative GPA while majoring in Biology and has been a regular name on the Dean’s list over his entire career. Urshela received national and local recognition for his academic prowess by being selected for the AD3I, USCAA and HVIAC All-Academic Teams every year he was eligible. Urshela hopes to parlay his athletic and biology experience by pursuing a career in Sports Medicine upon graduation from St. Joseph’s.