Senior Spotlight: Josh Undari

With the cancellation of the remainder of the spring season and the winter championships, at least one Wells College senior spring student-athlete will be highlighted each weekend. Today's featured student-athlete is senior Joshua Undari from the men's volleyball team.

Joshua is an economics and mathematics major from Manor Park, N.Y., and was the team's primary setter for the Express.

Wells head men's volleyball coach Jim Nichols had the following to say about Joshua, "I love effort in players as a coach and there was no one that gave you more effort than Josh. A captain as a senior, he led by example and was an incredible teammate with a positive attitude. Even when I tinkered with the lineup to get others in the game, he never complained, even though it may have hurt some of his stats. He would do whatever was asked of him and he was a pleasure to be around. Josh is the all-time leader in career assists and the single-season assist record holder, as well as the single-season record holder of assists-per-set. Josh will be missed."

Over his career at Wells, Joshua appeared in 118 matches and played in 420 sets. He finished as the school's all-time leader in career assists with 3,185. He also holds the single season record in assists with 1,244, as well as the single season assists-per-set at 9.80. In addition, Joshua recorded 648 digs, 417 kills, 113 service aces and 166 total blocks, while scoring 622.5 points. Joshua's career attack percentage was .255.

During the shortened 2020 season, Joshua appeared in 21 matches and played in 72 sets and finished with 612 assists, 100 digs, 67 kills, 14 service aces and 29 total blocks, while scoring 97.5 points. Joshua's season attack percentage was .352.

Why did you choose Wells College?

The men's volleyball coach from my freshmen year was the one who got me interested and after my first overnight I was sold. For me the most important aspect of Wells was the ability to be playing for a team that I could connect with, and not only with the men's volleyball team, but the entire campus. I was warmly welcomed me upon my first visit in a way that no other college had been able to replicate.

What is your favorite memory at Wells College as a student-athlete?

My favorite memory from Wells as a student-athlete would have to be winning the NEAC finals  in my junior year, it was as evenly-matched as a volleyball match can get and was something that I feel like the team had been building up to since my freshman year, nothing even comes close to that feeling… except maybe sweeping Southern Virginia in the first round of the NCAA tournament that same year.

What are your plans after Wells College?

After Wells, I am planning on heading straight into the workforce in some finance department somewhere along the east coast hopefully; the applications are still out there. I also plan to keep playing volleyball wherever I end up and hopefully at some point playing in some big AVP tournament once I am good enough.

What advice would you give to the next person wearing your number?

To the next person wearing No. 14, I just want to say that I've always thought that 14 was the least selfish number, because I don't know a single person who has 14 as their favorite number, nor would I have worn the number if I could have had either of my other top three choices or if I had even remembered which jersey number I had actually picked correctly before my first game freshman year (I picked 15, but forgot and thought I had picked 14 before my first game and that's the story of how I wore 14 for the rest of my college career). For anyone on the volleyball team that comes after me, I would say that the most important principles to keep are to continue to pick each other up - especially off the court - stay close with each other because you're basically family now, and lastly take responsibility for your actions; other than that have fun and I'm happy I got to be a part of the family.

If you had a favorite class during your time at Wells College, what was it and why was it your favorite?

My favorite class was probably Econ 402 which is my senior seminar this semester with professor Klitgaard. Professor Klitgaard is one of my favorite professors and one of the best speakers that I have ever had the pleasure of hearing lectures from. This semester alone I went deeper into economics than I had ever before for my thesis and professor Klitgaard has not only been an exceptional source of guidance, but also a friendly ear that I can vent my frustrations to. Thank-you professor Klitgaard for inspiring me to pursue economic theory and keeping my curiosity piqued.

What will you miss the most about being a student-athlete at Wells College?

This is the easiest question for me, as it is obviously going to be my teammates, my brothers, my family. Wells is a small school, so the people that you choose to spend time with are the people that you will be around a lot, and due to that and the fact that my teammates are some of the best people I've ever met. It allowed me to grow closer with these guys than anyone else ever, period. It's hard to express in words how much I'm going to miss spending every day with these guys playing volleyball six days a week in season or out of season, partying, or just being around them, I will never be able to recreate these kinds of connections and I know that is why it makes the end so bittersweet. Thank-you to all my teammates that I've had the pleasure of playing with these last four years. Thank-you for dealing with my weird personality and thank-you for being the closest friends I've ever had, keep in touch, love y'all from the bottom of my heart. I cannot wait to see what you guys accomplish in the future.