PHOENIX – Junior Alasha Colon is cementing herself as one of the best liberos in NEC women's volleyball.
 
Colon, a native of Carolina, Puerto Rico, has been thriving in her defensive role for the past three years.

Now, she has a chance to set a career milestone Friday night. She is six digs away from 1,000 in her career.
 
Colon played two seasons under LIU head coach Amable Martinez at St. Francis Brooklyn. She then made the short, intraborough trip with Martinez and a handful of teammates to don an LIU uniform once the the administration at her original school dropped athletics at the conclusion of the 2022-23 academic year.
 
Colon was named the NEC Co-Rookie of the Year and second-team All-NEC in 2021, when she recorded a combined 932 digs in 54 matches/194 sets.
 
"Alasha has been a workhorse and defensive leader," Martinez said. "No one is more deserving. She works diligently on her craft and is very coachable. I'm so happy for her to reach this accomplishment. but I know there are many more to come."
 
As a Shark, Colon has made an immediate impact. She started in her LIU debut against Lehigh last weekend and had a match-high 31 digs. She then added 31 more combined digs in matches against Iona and Temple.
 
Colon was named to the Temple-hosted Cherry & White Challenge all-tournament team for her efforts. She was named an NEC Prime Performer for the week on Tuesday.
 
"If you can dream it, you can achieve it," Colon said. "This is a really exciting moment for me. Reaching the 1,000-dig mark was a main goal of mine since I started playing college volleyball, but it wasn't going to be possible without the help of my teammates and their hard work."
 
LIU takes on host Grand Canyon at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ on Friday as Colon looks to reach her milestone and the Sharks try to grab their first win of 2023.