GENEVA, N.Y.- Hobart College Interim Director of Athletics
Brian Miller and William Smith College Director of Athletics
Deb Steward recently announced that
Tim Riskie will serve as head coach for the Hobart and William Smith tennis teams. In addition to his current role as head coach of the Statesmen, he will now take the reins of the Herons' program as well. Riskie will no longer serve as the head coach of the Hobart squash team.
"With Chip Fishback's retirement, the time was right to restructure our tennis and squash coaching structure," Steward said. "The days of dual sport head coaches at the collegiate level due to the demands on a coach are in the past. This structure allows Coach Riskie to focus his energy and knowledge on tennis. Our Heron and Statesmen tennis players will benefit from Coach Riskie's passion for tennis. In turn, as we move forward with our head squash coach search, our squash players will benefit from a coach with expertise and focus in the sport of squash. It is a win-win for our Herons and Statesmen as well as our coaches."
"I am excited about Coach Riskie's move to become the head coach of both Hobart and William Smith Tennis programs," Miller said. "By shifting his attention and talents solely to tennis, I am confident Tim will be able to lift both teams to new heights and provide our student-athletes with a great experience. He has been an outstanding leader and mentor for our Hobart men both on and off the courts, and I have no doubt he will continue to shine to the benefit of all our tennis student-athletes in his new role."
Riskie was named the head coach of the Hobart tennis and squash programs prior to the start of the 2011-12 academic season. He has guided the Statesmen tennis team to an overall record of 95-67 in his first eight seasons. Hobart has posted identical 13-7 records in each of his last two seasons. Riskie guided Hobart to a record matching 17 wins in his first season as head coach. The Statesmen have advanced to the Liberty League tournament in each of the last five years and advanced to the championship match at the end of the 2016-17 season.
On the court, Riskie has mentored two ITA All-Americans, Walker Anderson (2018, doubles) and Alan Dubrovsky (2018, singles and doubles), 44 All-Liberty League selections, two Liberty League Rookies of the Year Dubrovsky (2017) and Jonah Salita (2016). Riskie and his assistants were named the Liberty League Coaching Staff of the Year in 2017. In the classroom, his charges have earned 29 Liberty League All-Academic team honors and 30 ITA Scholar-Athlete awards. Anderson was named a 2018-19 Google Cloud second team Academic All-American this spring.
Riskie inherits a William Smith team that returns eight players from last year's squad that was 14-7 overall and 6-2 in the Liberty League. The Herons earned the third-seed in the Liberty League tournament and advanced to the semifinals.
"Thank you to Deb and Brian for giving me the opportunity to grow the HWS tennis programs," Riskie said. "I have always admired the Heron tennis program and the excellent foundation that Coach Fishback has created during his career. I am thrilled to officially be joining the Heron Athletics family."
Riskie will take over for Fishback, who led the Herons for 21 seasons. Fishback never suffered a losing season, compiling a record of 252-135 (.651). He is the program's all-time leader in wins, wins per season, matches coached and seasons coached. Under his tutelage, Herons earned 37 all-conference awards, including Liberty League Players of the Year Chelsea Rauck (2006) and Hannah More (2016). Rauck was also the ITA National Rookie of the Year and earned a spot in the NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Championship singles draw.