SEATTLE – Husky Volleyball Head Coach Leslie Gabriel announced the first addition to her coaching staff today, welcoming Manolo Concepción to Montlake. An experienced and passionate teacher of the game, Concepción has nearly two decades of coaching experience at virtually every level of volleyball.
Concepción joins the Huskies following three years as Associate Head Coach at Eastern Illinois University, and prior to that he has been a head coach for eight seasons at the Division I level at the University of Evansville and Western Carolina.
“In the hiring process it was important to me that I find someone who is of high character, loyal and hardworking. Someone that loves the game of volleyball and wants to help develop the athletes to be the best they can be on the court, in the classroom and in life,” said Gabriel. “It was clear that Manolo was that coach.
“Manolo brings to Washington a vast knowledge of the game and a myriad of coaching experiences. He has been a head coach at both the Division I and junior college level, coached both men and women at the professional level, assisted at various colleges and started his own club and coached at the club level. Everywhere he has gone he has helped improve the women in each program. I am excited to welcome Manolo to the Husky family and I look forward to the contributions he will make to our program.”
In his three seasons at Eastern Illinois, Concepción helped the Panthers go from two conference wins in 2020 to a 10-8 conference mark this past season, and from a 2-14 overall record in 2020 to a 16-16 mark in 2022, the team’s most wins since 2017. He recruited and helped coach Giovana Larregui Lopez to the 2022 Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year award, the first Panther to win that honor since 2004. Larregui Lopez was also named an AVCA All-America honorable mention.
Concepción was in charge of training and development at EIU, and the offensive coordinator, helping the team lead the league in assists per set, kills per set, and points per set in 2022. He also was the Head Coach of the Eastern Illinois beach volleyball program, which played its inaugural season in the spring of 2022.
He is a native of Toa Baja, Puerto Rico, having coached and worked in the Puerto Rican men’s and women’s professional leagues, working with three Olympians during that phase of his career, as well as helping collegiate hopefuls find scholarship opportunities within the NCAA and…
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