Since the start of the 1998-99 seasons, the William Smith tennis and squash teams have operated under the leadership of Head Coach Chip Fishback. The Heron tennis has not posted a losing season in 17 years, while the squash team has grown from a first year varsity program into a top-20 power.
Fishback has a career record of 204-105 on the tennis courts, and holds the record for most wins by a William Smith tennis coach. He has also recorded a 168-155 mark on the squash courts.
The William Smith tennis program has also flourished under Fishback's guidance. The Herons logged a 9-9 overall record last season and in 2013-14, finished with a 15-4 record, notching the second-most wins in a season in program history. William Smith finished that year ranked No. 19 in the Northeast Region by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.Â
The Herons set a new program record for single season wins in 2010-11, posting 16 victories. The team tied the program's previous record for wins in 2001-02, 2002-03 and 2004-05, registering 14 victories. The 2001-02 squad also broke the program's season record for highest winning percentage (.824, 14-3).
Over the past 12 seasons, Fishback has mentored one ITA National Rookie of the Year and his charges have earned 30 All-Liberty League awards, and 22 Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-Academic Team selections. In addition, Chelsea Rauck ’09 was named the Liberty League Player and Rookie of the Year in 2006.
The William Smith squash program won back-to-back Liberty League Championships in 2005 and 2006, while capturing consecutive Walker Cups in 2006 and 2007. In 2009 and 2013, the Herons won the Epps Cup Championship. In the 2011-12 and last season, William Smith captured second place in the Epps Cup at the CSA Team National Championships.
In 2004-05, Fishback’s Herons turned in a 15-5 record, setting the single-season wins record, qualifying for the Kurtz Cup–the B Division of the Howe Cup–and ending the campaign ranked 15th in the nation, the program’s highest ranking.
The 2005 Liberty League Squash Coach of the Year, Fishback has mentored 29 All-Liberty League selections, the 2004, 2005, and 2006 Liberty League Rookies of the Year, and 2007 Liberty League Player of the Year, Katie Hendricks '07.
Fishback came to William Smith after spending five years as an assistant coach at the University of North Carolina. Before turning to coaching full time, he taught history and mathematics at Brookings (S.D.) High School, while also coaching tennis, gymnastics, and football.
Fishback is a 1984 graduate of Davidson College, where he played tennis, baseball, and football for the Wildcats. In 1992, he earned a master’s degree in teaching from North Carolina.
