Eric Ishida is headed into his 15th season as the head coach of the Oberlin men’s tennis program in 2026-27.
A three-time North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Coach of the Year (2015, 2017, 2026), Ishida has revolutionized the Crimson and Gold men’s tennis program, recording seven seasons of double-digit victories and leading the team into the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) national and regional rankings, the highest being No. 26 in the nation during the 2026 season. Ishida has guided Oberlin to the NCAC tournament each year it has been held since taking over the program, with 12 tournament appearances while tallying 22 All-NCAC singles honorees, eight All-Conference doubles selections, three NCAC Newcomer of the Year recipients, and an NCAC Decade honoree. The Crimson and Gold have also excelled in the classroom under Ishida’s direction, totaling 68 ITA Scholar-Athletes, 55 NCAC Academic Honor Roll recipients, 12 College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District honorees, and nine ITA All-Academic teams.
Ishida’s 2025-26 squad put together the most successful season of his tenure, going 15-7 overall and 6-2 in NCAC play to earn the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament. Oberlin recorded five sweeps and reached the highest national ranking in program history. First-year Dash Smith and senior Shawn Lisann earned All-NCAC Second Team singles honors, and Lisann and fellow first-year Cameron Weiss were also named Second Team as a doubles pairing. Smith, Weiss and much of the roster return for 2026-27.
Ishida took over a program that had gone 10-14 the year before he arrived and earned his first win as head coach on Feb. 16, 2013, a 5-4 victory over Wabash at Heisman Field House. Through 14 seasons, he has compiled a 135-144 overall record and a 45-42 mark in NCAC play.
Ishida came to Oberlin after a successful tenure as the head women’s tennis coach at Washington and Lee University, where he guided his team to a berth in the NCAA Championship Tournament in each season along with a pair of quarterfinal appearances, including a national runner-up finish in 2008. In five seasons as the Generals head coach, Ishida compiled an impressive 107-26 record and coached eight ITA All-Americans. The 2012 squad won the ITA National Indoor Championship and was ranked as high as No. 3 in the NCAA national poll.
A 2004 graduate of Ohio University, Ishida played three years of collegiate tennis at Wright State University before transferring to OU to complete his degree in physical education. He also earned his master’s degree in coaching education from Ohio University in 2013.
