CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Flormarie Heredia Colon was a wide-eyed freshman still trying to adjust to her new life in Miami and the level of play in American college volleyball when her coach pulled her aside and had her look up to the rafters of the Knight Sports Complex.

There, Heredia Colon saw the names and faces of some of the greatest volleyball athletes to suit up in orange and green, All-Americans like Lane Carico, Emani Sims and Savanah Leaf. All were standouts who’d made their mark and helped push the program forward after volleyball was restored at Miami in 2001.

And Hurricanes head coach Jose “Keno” Gandara made a prediction.

“He would point and say, ‘You’re going to be there one day,’ and my freshman year, I would look at him like, ‘Whatever!’” Heredia Colon recalled with a laugh. “I used to tell him, ‘Yeah, yeah.’ I was never that sure it was going to happen. Now that I realize what we’ve done together, I’m like, ‘Wow.’ He really knew it and it was amazing. He had confidence in me since day one and that helped open things up for me.”

Heredia Colon’s Miami career isn’t finished. On Thursday, she and the fifth-seeded Hurricanes will open play in the NCAA Tournament against Tulsa in Lawrence, Kansas.

But she’s already rewritten the Miami record book and like the All-Americans who came before her, she’s created a legacy in Coral Gables that won’t be forgotten any time soon.

Last month, in a win over Duke, Heredia Colon notched 20 kills to become Miami’s career all-time leader with 1,836 – and counting. That eclipsed Carico’s mark of 1,749 kills set between 2008 and 2011.

And three times this season, Heredia Colon – an AVCA Player of the Year semifinalist – set new marks for kills in a single match.

In a five-set win over then-No. 4 Pittsburgh on October 10, the senior outside hitter tallied 38 kills to break the record of 34 set by Olga Strantzali in 2017. Three weeks later, Heredia Colon broke her own record with 42 kills in a win over Florida State. And days after that, she broke her own record again – this time with 43 kills in a loss against then-No. 7 Louisville.

In between, she notched 37 kills in a win over Virginia Tech and 34 kills in a win over Syracuse, giving her the top five single-match performances in program history. Her 719 kills on the season are also a program record.

She’s been named the ACC Player of the Week a record seven times this season and last week, she was selected by the Columbus Fury with the 10^th overall pick in the Major League Volleyball draft.

Combine all of that with Miami posting a 26-5 overall record and advancing to the NCAA Tournament for a fifth straight season and the last few weeks have felt like a whirlwind.

“It’s been amazing. I can’t even explain the emotions,” Heredia Colon said. “It’s finally showing up, everything that I’ve worked for. I’m just so happy that I’ve been able to reach a few of my goals. … This is family for me. Miami is a place that has my heart, and it’s everything. I came here; I’m around my people. … I’m just so happy I get to live this experience here and that God sent me here for a reason.”

Heredia Colon may not have known what was in store for her when she arrived on Miami’s campus in 2022, but Gandara saw her potential well before that while she was playing high school volleyball at Central Pointe Christian Academy near Orlando.

Her ability to hit was immediately evident. So was her versatility.

But it wasn’t just her skill on the court that made Heredia Colon different.

It was her approach to the game.

“It didn’t take long to see her ability to hit the ball and her complete skillset to be an outside hitter at the next level,” Gandara said. “But she played with passion. She was this personality on the court that you could just see from day one … She was fun to be around. And then just getting to know her, learning what her goals were and her ambition to play professionally, we were like, ‘Yeah, she’s got everything.’ She’s got an incredible arm; she plays with passion and she’s fun on the court and fun off the court. We were fortunate to be able to get her like we did.”

For Heredia Colon, who hails from Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, that passion, that love for the game runs deep.

Both of her parents played for the Dominican national team. So did her uncles.

That meant she was introduced to the game early on. It didn’t take long for her to discover volleyball was going to impact her life, too.

“I always grew up in volleyball. In my family, everybody played for the national team: my mom, my dad, my uncles,” Heredia Colon said with a smile. “I grew up with it, and I fell in love along the way.”

Eventually, she earned a spot on the Dominican National Team herself, representing her home country in 12 different tournaments. There she had the opportunity to start building on-court chemistry with one of her future Miami teammates, setter Ariana Rodriguez.

That chemistry – and friendship – is now making a difference for the Hurricanes.

“It all stems from family and culture and playing with the national teams. Our moms played together, so we were always around each other when we were younger,” Rodriguez said. “One day, we both tried out for the national team together and there we were. … We played together on the junior level and this year, she got on the women’s national team, and I was able to play with her there too, which just furthered our chemistry.

“She does something new every day in practice and she’s always trying to work on her craft, which I’m very proud of her for. Every day, we’re just amazed by it. It seems like the sky’s the limit for her, and I hope she can continue to develop her craft and become the best player that she can be.”

Heredia Colon’s willingness to challenge herself and keep growing her game was part of what brought her to the United States first for high school, and later to Miami.

“Academically, the University of Miami is really good,” said Heredia Colon, a sports administration major. “But another point that I really looked at was my coaches and the connections I had with them. It was amazing and being in Miami, it’s like home to me. I’m Latina. I’m Dominican. Being here feels natural.”

With the Hurricanes, she’s gone from being an All-ACC Freshman Team selection to a record-breaking two-time first-team All-ACC honoree.

She’s proud of her success and is hopeful her journey has inspired not only some of her younger teammates, but young volleyball players back home.

She wants those young players to see her as more than a star, but as a bridge.

“I think I’m the first Dominican to have all these merits in a U.S. league. To be from the Dominican Republic and be here, it makes me proud and happy, because not everybody gets to make it,” Heredia Colon said. “In the D.R., a lot of girls don’t know how to get here. Usually, players go to junior college first and then transfer. But I came here in high school, did my last year, and then joined Miami. I hope that through my story and my social media, more girls can get that opportunity, get scholarships for high school and follow the same path.”

And while she has big dreams of playing professionally and representing her country in the Olympics, for now, her focus is simple: helping the Hurricanes win a national title.

The push for that begins in earnest on Thursday.

“I want an NCAA championship. We’ve been saying it every day in practice. We’ve been practicing so hard, giving 100 percent every day, every time,” Heredia Colon said. “On and off the court, we’ve been so focused and I think we’ve come close to surprising people this year.”

She will leave Miami with a plethora of records, accolades and a resume unlike any other in program history.

But Heredia Colon hopes it won’t be just the eye-popping numbers that people remember.

Her passion for the game, her joy, and her team’s success, all of those matter deeply to her.

“I want them to remember Flor as being happy Flor, the player that never gave up on the mental game, the player who always had a smile on her face and that her teammates always knew she was there for them,” Heredia Colon said.

“The Dominican Queen, the happy queen who enjoyed her game, who didn’t stress, who brought happiness and energy. I want people to remember that.”