Hobart and William Smith Colleges Athletics

Derryk Williams was chosen to lead the William Smith volleyball team as the program's first head coach in its inaugural season in 2022. He made his head coaching debut with William Smith after spending four seasons on the coaching staff at Syracuse University.

In just his third season at the helm, Williams led William Smith to its first ever appearance in the NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championship as the Herons earned an at-large bid with a program-best 22-7 overall record. William Smith went 7-1 in the Liberty League to clinch the second-seed in the conference playoffs, where it fell to No. 22 Ithaca in the championship match. Williams and the Herons received votes in the AVCA national poll for the first time in program history and continued to receive votes for 10 straight weeks. Williams produced five All-Liberty League selections, including the Liberty League Rookie of the Year, three AVCA All-Region III First Team selections, including the Region III Freshman of the Year, and three AVCA All-Americans. He also mentored two Herons who landed on the Liberty League All-Academic team who were selected to the CSC Academic All-District team. 

In his second season at William Smith, Williams led the Herons to a 15-10 record with a 6-2 mark in the Liberty League to clinch the second-seed in the conference playoffs. William Smith swept Clarkson in the Liberty League semifinals before falling to No. 22 Ithaca in the championship match. Williams produced three All-Liberty League selections and two AVCA All-Americans. He also mentored five Herons who landed on the Liberty League All-Academic team as well as two players who were selected to the CSC Academic All-District team.

In his first year at the helm, Williams led the Herons to a 16-6 record with a 6-2 mark in the Liberty League. He led William Smith to its first ever playoff appearance, clinching the third seed in the conference playoffs. Williams produced three All-Liberty League selections, including an AVCA All-American in the programs first season.
 
Williams helped the Orange to a 55-44 record, rising from assistant coach to associate head coach. In his first season, he helped SU to a 19-9 overall record, a fourth place finish in the ACC and the program’s first NCAA tournament appearance, which included a triumph over Yale in the first round. Syracuse was second in the nation in blocks that season and was one of two teams with two players in the top 30 in the country in blocks per set.
 
At Syracuse, Williams played an integral role in recruiting, budget management, student-athlete development and scheduling practices and competition.
 
Williams began his coaching career at his alma mater, Ithaca, in 2015. During his season on the sideline, the Bombers won the Empire 8 Tournament title and advanced to the NCAA tournament regional semifinals. The following year, he became an assistant coach at Colgate. The Raiders finished with a 36-22 record during his two seasons, and advanced to the Patriot League tournament championship game in 2016 and earned a National Invitational Volleyball Championship bid in 2017.
 
Williams was the assistant coach at Hamilton College while also serving as a volunteer assistant coach with the Raiders in 2017. At Hamilton, he helped the Continentals to the most conference wins and best seed in the NESCAC Tournament in program history.
 
A graduate of Ithaca, Williams played two seasons with the Bombers’ men’s tennis team before serving as a two-year captain of the club volleyball program. He earned a bachelor’s degree in television/radio with a minor in coaching.