Xavier High School - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Saints cannot serve up win against Cougars

The serve appears to be the simplest shot in volleyball, but the ball can get a little heavy and the nerves can get a little tight in a big match against a quality opponent.

That seemed to be part of the problem for the Xavier Saints Tuesday night when they lost to Kennedy, 23-25, 25-15, 25-23, 25-19, in a battle of Mississippi Valley Conference heavyweights at Xavier.

The Saints gave away too many points at critical parts in the match with service errors when they either hit the ball out-of-bounds or slammed the ball into the net. All the Cougars had to do was stand there and see another point posted on their side of the scoreboard.

And at the same time, the Saints had a few problems when they tried to return Kennedy's tough serves.

"I think our service pressure and our serve receive were probably not at the level it needs to be," said Xavier Coach Austin Filer. "We put a lot of emphasis into our defense, and I thought our defense was better and I thought we did a lot of nice things there.

"But the ability to serve receive is probably the highest skill and the most important skill, and we didn't do as good a job tonight as Kennedy did.

"It always kind of stinks when it's crunch time and you're scoring and all of a sudden you hit one out-of-bounds or into the net and it's tough," said Filer. "It's part of playing sports."

The Saints, who are ranked No. 4 in Class 4A, fell to 26-7 for the campaign. The Saints began the year with 18 straight wins, but they have posted a modest 8-7 record in their last 15 matches against stiff competition.

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No. 4 Saints finish 3-1 at CPU tourney

CENTER POINT - The fourth-ranked Xavier volleyball team finished with a 3-1 record at the Center Point-Urbana tournament Saturday.

The Saints swept Waterloo West, North Cedar and Center Point-Urbana by 2-0 scores before falling to Waterloo Columbus, 2-1, in their final match.

Xavier raised its record to 26-6.

Wilson snaps record as Saints roll

WAVERLY - Here's a friendly note to the public address announcer at Waverly-Shell Rock High School.

The name of the Xavier tailback is Maliki Wilson, not Malik, and he's now the most prolific runner in Saints history.

Wilson dashed for 172 yards Friday night and broke the school record for career rushing as the top-ranked Saints dismantled Waverly-Shell Rock, 42-0, in another lopsided Class 3A district game.

Wilson raised his career rushing total to 2,548 yards, snapping the old mark of 2,498 set by Brendan Miller in 2012 and 2013.

The public address announcer did a fine job most of the night, but he kept calling the Xavier tailback "Malik" instead of Maliki.

Wilson heard what the P.A. guy was saying, but brushed it off with good humor after the game.

"Yeah, please get it right," he remembered thinking during the game, "because I might become the all-time leader at my school."

Wilson ran for 1,273 yards last season and now has 1,275 this year. All told, he's lugged the ball exactly 300 times in his career and has averaged 8.5 yards per carry in a Xavier uniform with 26 rushing touchdowns.

"He's tough, man," said Xavier quarterback Bryce Schulte. "He can run by you, he can blow you over, he can juke you out. His line creates holes for him and he does the rest. He's just one heck of a running back."

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Scott gets his kicks with Saints

It's not unusual for brothers to grab a football and toss it around in the back yard, but the Scott family of Cedar Rapids can form the guts of its own place-kicking team.

Drew Scott, the eldest brother, is a long-snapper for the Kansas State Wildcats in the Big 12 Conference. Shane Scott, the middle brother, is the top place-kicker for the Xavier Saints. And Jack Scott, the youngest brother, is a back-up quarterback for the Saints and certainly capable of being the holder.

Here's the snap ... Here's the placement ... Here's the kick ... It's goooood!

Drew Scott starred at Xavier before heading to Kansas State, where he's a fifth-year senior. Shane Scott, a senior, has made all three of his field goals this season, including a 44-yarder two weeks ago against Decorah. And Jack Scott, a junior, is an important reserve and member of the Scout Team at Xavier.

And if the Scott brothers need any tips, their father Andrew Scott can steer them in the right direction as a former coach at Regis Middle School (and a former player at Regis High School).

"It's neat to have the whole family aspect with the three Scott boys," Xavier Coach Duane Schulte said this week.

Like many football players at Xavier, Shane Scott had to wait his turn to play for the varsity. He was the No. 2 place-kicker last year behind Dallas Klein, who's now playing in college.

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