Over the decade, Travis Filar has worked tirelessly to bring new life to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga volleyball program. Since becoming the program's sixth head coach on Feb. 17, 2011, he has stuck to a process that led to the 2015 Southern Conference Championship.
Chattanooga has appeared in two title matches during Filar's tenure, claiming spots in the finals in back-to-back years in 2015 and 2016.
UTC racked up the most wins as a program during that two-year stretch ('15 and '16) in nearly 20 years. The Mocs finished 45-19 over the span and earned wins over Virginia Tech (2015) and Xavier (2016). They would add 13 wins in 2017 to complete a very successful three-year run.
The Mocs finished 2015's historical run with a 26-6 record, winning its first regular season SoCon trophy since 1998 with a 13-3 league mark. Filar was named the SoCon Coach of the Year, only the second UTC coach to receive this honor.
Chattanooga got off to its best start in school history, racing out to a 15-2 record that included an 11-match winning streak. Included in that run was a 3-2 win at Virginia Tech on Oct. 2. The five-set victory was UTC’s first against a “Power 5” school since Sept. 18, 2004.
Filar recruited and coached 12 All-SoCon selections, including five all-freshman honorees. It was his first recruiting class that led the program to the 2015 SoCon title and led to back-to-back SoCon Tournament title matches.
Additionally, Chattanooga’s 2015 signing class was ranked among the top-100 by PrepVolleyball.com and was one of only 44 programs in the nation to achieve honorable mention by the premier volleyball site. It was the second time in Filar’s UTC career that the Mocs were recognized by PrepVolleyball.com. The 2013 signing class was also ranked among the top-100.
During the 2014 season, Filar led the Mocs to 13 wins and an appearance at the Southern Conference Tournament. He also guided Allie Davenport to rank eighth in the nation in service aces per set (.48), while coaching Chattanooga to a 53rd ranking in the NCAA with 168 team service aces.
In 2012, Filar directed the Mocs to their first Southern Conference Tournament appearance in four seasons and posted a fifth-best win improvement among 330 NCAA Division I volleyball programs in 2012.
Two of the Mocs' 26 all-time CoSIDA Academic All-Americans came under his watch in Christina Teter (2012) and Megan Kaufman (2020-21). That covers all sports and are the only two volleyball student-athletes on the list. The program received the AVCA Team Academic Award in each of the last nine seasons. Seven of the nine CoSIDA Academic All-District honorees came under his watch: Teter (2011, 2012), Kaufman (2018, 2019, 2020-21), Sarah Batterton (2015) and Brenna Everingham (2020-21).
Filar came to Chattanooga after spending four seasons as an assistant coach at North Carolina. There he helped guide the Tar Heels to a 25-10 record in 2010, including a trip to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
As a member of the Tar Heel staff, he primarily worked with the middle blockers, liberos, defensive specialists and coordinated the team's defensive and blocking systems, while coaching three players to American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-American honors.
In 2008, he guided a defense that ranked second in the nation in digs per set. The Tar Heels were also first in the ACC in opponent hitting percentage and second in the league in blocks per set. UNC won the ACC title that season, advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Before coming to North Carolina, Filar was on the coaching staff at Memphis beginning in 2005. His responsibilities were with the middle blockers and team defensive systems.
During his two seasons with the Tigers, he coached two AVCA All-Americans, three AVCA All-Midwest Region players and three Conference USA all-league performers. Memphis finished with a 27-8 record in 2006 and was one win from the C-USA title.
Filar worked two seasons as a volunteer assistant at Kentucky. While working with the Wildcats, he also was involved in the community by coaching the boys and girls basketball teams at Trinity Christian Academy in Lexington, Ky.
Prior to starting his coaching career, Filar played two seasons of men's club volleyball at Furman. He graduated with a degree in Health and Exercise Science in 2000.
He spent two years at his alma mater as an assistant coach and assistant camp director from 2001-03. Additionally, he has worked as an assistant volleyball clinician at the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Girls Sports Camp at Gardner-Webb University. He also served as a court coach at volleyball camps at Charlotte and Davidson.
Filar is married to the former Natalie Muro, a four-year women's soccer letter winner at Furman. The couple resides in Chattanooga with their two daughters, Savanna Grace and Kathryn, and son, Luke.
