Since taking charge the NIU men’s tennis program in 2009, Patrick Fisher has guided the Huskies to three Mid-American Conference Championships (2012, ’14 and ’15) while achieving outstanding academic success as he has restored tradition and pride to the Huskie tennis program.
Fisher is the winningest coach in Huskie men’s tennis history as he earned his school record 187th win against Buffalo on April 3, 2022. During his 14 years at NIU, Fisher has compiled a 201-129 overall record with 25 All-MAC honorees, 40 Academic All-MAC recipients and five MAC Freshman/Newcomer of the Year honoree. Fisher was named MAC Coach of the Year in 2014. The Huskies have finished with a .500 or better record in 12 consecutive seasons and have posted a perfect 1,000 NCAA Academic Progress Rate score in seven of the last eight years.
Following the COVID shortened 2019-20 season in which NIU played just 12 matches, NIU recorded one of its best seasons in program history in 2020-21, posting a 21-3 overall record.
The Huskies won their first 10 matches to start the season, the longest unbeaten start to a year in school history and appeared in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Division I Team Rankings for three consecutive weeks, climbing as high as 37th nationally. Bor Schweiger Muzar and Kristopher Ortega were named to the All-MAC First Team while Oliver Valentinsson earned Second Team recognition. Mikael Vollbach was named MAC Freshman of the Year, becoming the seventh player in program history to earn MAC Freshman/Newcomer of the Year honors.
Despite multiple injuries, the 2021-22 Huskies won 11 matches and advanced to the MAC Tournament. Valentinsson earned First Team All-MAC honors while Ortega was named to the All-MAC Second Team and six Huskies claimed Academic All-MAC recognition.
In 2022-23, NIU earned 13 victories and had a pair of Second Team All-MAC honorees in Valentinsson and Vollbach. Iker Gaztambide Arrastia became the second Huskie in three seasons to be named MAC Freshman of the Year.
The groundwork for NIU’s championship success under Fisher was built during his first two seasons in charge, when he guided NIU to a pair of 10-win seasons and had two MAC Newcomer of the Year honorees. After being named NIU’s head coach on August 21, 2009, Fisher mentored Maksym Bartiuk to MAC Newcomer of the Year honors in 2009-10 while the Huskies posted a 10-13 mark. The following season, Bartiuk earned All-MAC recognition and Axel Lagerlof was named MAC Newcomer of the Year as the Huskies finished 11-16 and Fisher’s vision for success began to take shape.
NIU went on to record its first 20-win spring season since 1989 in 2011-12 when it finished 21-7 overall, 4-1 in conference play, to claim the program’s first MAC Championship and its seventh overall conference title. Three Huskies earned All-MAC honors, including Dor Amir, who claimed first team honors. Lagerlof and Roman Turtygin each earned second team consideration.
The 2012-13 season saw NIU come within inches of reaching the NCAA Tournament. Entering the tournament as the number four seed, NIU upset Ball State in the semifinals before falling to Western Michigan, 4-3, in the championship match to close the season at 16-9. Three Huskies, Amir, Lagerlof and Frederic Cadieux, earned All-MAC honors and the Huskies finished the season ranked 10th in the final ITA Midwest Region rankings.
In 2013-14, Fisher and the Huskies went a perfect 4-0 in league play to win another MAC regular season crown while finishing with an 18-6 overall mark. Fisher was named MAC Coach of the Year while Amir, Lagerlof and Cadieux all received All-MAC honors. The Huskies finished the season ranked ninth in the ITA Midwest Region.
Following heavy losses to graduation, the 2014-15 season started as a bit of an unknown, but under Fisher’s guidance the Huskies ended the year as MAC Champions again. With just one senior and one junior on the roster, NIU posted an 18-6 mark, including 4-1 in league play. Cadieux was named to the All-MAC First Team and finished his career with an impressive 95 singles victories, third-most in NIU history, and 66 doubles wins, ninth best in program history. The Huskies were ranked eighth in the final ITA Midwest Region rankings, their third consecutive top-10 finish.
NIU recorded 15 victories in 2015-16, marking the fifth consecutive season in which the Huskies had won at least 15 dual matches. The Huskies had five Academic All-MAC honorees, tied for the most in program history, and Georg Lundkvist earned All-MAC recognition. In 2016-17, Fisher led NIU to 13 wins and Lundkivst was named to the All-MAC Second Team for the second consecutive season.
During the 2017-18 season, Fisher’s Huskies posted a 15-8 overall record and finished second in the MAC. Kristopher Ortega and Eric Marbach earned First Team All-MAC honors, while Ortega was named the MAC’s Newcomer of the Year.
The 2018-19 campaign saw the Huskies reach the MAC Tournament Final for the first time in six years, just missing out on the NCAA Tournament in a third-set tiebreak in the final match of the conference championship. Marbach was named to the All-MAC First Team and Muzar claimed All-MAC Second Team honors as a successful season saw the Huskies finish third in the MAC in the regular season.
Prior to NIU, Fisher served as the top assistant at Brigham Young University, where he spent two seasons. The Cougars finished the 2009 season ranked No. 49 in the country, their highest mark in more than five years. With BYU, Fisher was responsible for both national and international recruiting, the entire scheduling process, and devising team and individual practice sessions. Following the 2007-08 season, Fisher was named the Assistant Coach of the Year in the BYU Athletics Department.
Fisher began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Western Michigan (2003-04), helping the Broncos capture the 2004 MAC Championship, along with an automatic bid into the NCAA Championships.
From 2004-06, Fisher served as both the head men's and women's tennis coach at Colgate University (Hamilton, N.Y.). Both squads advanced to the Patriot League Tournament semifinals in 2005 and 2006, while the men's team cracked the top-15 of the East Region rankings during the 2005 campaign.
Fisher played collegiately at Ferris State (1997-2000) in Big Rapids, Mich. He was ranked among the individual top-25 in the NCAA Division II standings during his career, and the Bulldogs advanced to the "Sweet Sixteen" of the NCAA Championships in every campaign. He was named to the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Conference All-Conference team in his final three seasons (1998, 1999 and 2000).
Fisher graduated from FSU in 2001 with a Bachelor of Science in marketing and professional tennis management, he earned a Master of Arts in coaching and athletics administration from Concordia University Irvine in 2018. Following his playing career, Fisher participated in professional satellite and the futures circuit in the United States, Mexico and Europe, from 1998-2001. He earned both his United States Tennis Association (USTA) certified professional tennis certificate and USTA Level I Sports Science Certification, in 2001.
Fisher's Year-by-Year Record
| Year |
Record |
|
| 2009-10 |
10-13 (1-4 MAC) |
|
| 2010-11 |
11-16 (1-4 MAC) |
|
| 2011-12 |
21-8 (4-1 MAC) |
MAC Regular Season Champions |
| 2012-13 |
16-9 (3-2 MAC) |
|
| 2013-14 |
18-6 (4-0 MAC) |
MAC Regular Season Champions |
| 2014-15 |
18-6 (4-1 MAC) |
MAC Regular Season Champions |
| 2015-16 |
15-9 (3-4 MAC) |
|
| 2016-17 |
13-12 (2-5 MAC) |
|
| 2017-18 |
15-8 (5-2 MAC) |
|
| 2018-19 |
13-12 (3-4 MAC) |
|
| 2019-20 |
6-6 (1-0 MAC) |
Season cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| 2020-21 |
21-3 (7-3 MAC) |
|
| 2021-22 |
11-11 (5-5 MAC) |
|
| 2022-23 |
13-10 (4-6 MAC) |
|
| Total |
201-129 |
|
