A familiar face is returning to Laredo Community College to tend to some unfinished business.
College
officials announced Thursday at a news conference the selection of Binny Canales
as the new head volleyball coach of the Lady Palominos. He replaces Jennielle
Strother who announced her resignation last month.
Canales is no stranger to LCC’s volleyball program after serving as its head coach for four years, from 1997 to 2001, before accepting an offer to start the volleyball program at Texas A&M International University in 2002.
During his initial tenure at LCC he made impressive strides to help the Lady Palominos achieve back-to-back 30-win seasons in 2000 and 2001.
In his final season with the two-year LCC volleyball program, the Lady Palominos finished 31-4 in 2001, ranking second in the region and ninth in the nation in the final National Junior College Athletic Association Division I rankings. The Laredo Morning Times honored Canales as the Coach of the Year after the 2001 season.
College officials said that Canales’ homecoming to LCC will give him an opportunity to reach an ambitious goal—guide the Lady Palominos to the top of the NJCAA Region XIV District I tournament and beyond.
At TAMIU, Canales led the Lady Dustdevils to a 67-25 record during the program’s first three years. Among his accomplishments at TAMIU were a Red River Athletic Conference West Division title in 2002 and a NAIA Region VI tournament berth in 2003.
In addition to his experience at LCC and TAMIU, Canales has served as head coach in several collegiate volleyball divisions, including the NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II and NAIA levels.
Canales has compiled a 313-142 career coaching record, and has earned “Coach of the Year” awards five times.
A native of San Antonio, where he played collegiate volleyball at the University of Texas at San Antonio, Canales holds a bachelor’s degree from Louisiana Tech.
Canales starts at LCC immediately to prepare the Lady Palominos for the 2006 conference season, but he also will complete his teaching obligations at TAMIU this semester.
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