Saints send off Coach Filer with state volleyball title

CORALVILLE, Iowa (KCRG) - It was a bittersweet victory for the Xavier volleyball team. The Saints won a state championship, but said goodbye to their head coach.

This marked Austin Filer’s last season with the Saints. He’s been coaching at Xavier since 2016, but is stepping away to focus on his duties as the head coach of the Mount Mercy men’s volleyball team.

He said it was a hard choice and this wasn’t the first time he considered stepping away. He came close when the Saints won a state championship in 2020, but this time, it is for real.

" When we won last, I actually thought that was gonna be my last year as well. They really made it hard for me to step away, but for me it was important because they had to work so hard inside of that match. CCA was so fantastic the entire way through, that we really had to earn it. It wasn’t coming in 3-0, sweep. Everybody talks about how dominant we were. We had to really show some grit,” Filer said. “We talk a lot about that inside of our gym. It’s gonna be tough and if it wasn’t tough, it wouldn’t be worth it. They earned it and that’s why I’m so proud of them. They deserve every bit of it.”

Xavier hasn’t named Filer’s successor, but they should have a solid team coming back next year. Three of the starters for the Saints are expected to return.

Xavier finished the season with a 33-4 overall record.

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