The Lakota East boys' volleyball team captured their first regional title on Saturday by defeating Fairborn High School in three straight games (25-19, 25-16, 25-18); clinching a berth in next weekend's state championship.

The win avenged an earlier season loss to the Skyhawks and a defeat in last year's regional battle between the two schools. It marks the first regional championship for the Thunderhawks in the program’s seven-year history. The boy’s volleyball team will be only the second Lakota East sports team to qualify for a state tournament in the school’s nine-year athletic history. The Thunderhawks have had numerous individual athletes qualify for state, but not since the 1999 boy’s soccer team qualified for the Final Four has an East team made it this far.

East got out to a fast start in the first two games against Fairborn by building substantial leads that the Skyhawks could not overcome. Fairborn led briefly in the third game, but with the score tied at 16-16 the Thunderhawks never trailed again.

"We decided last week in order to beat them we would have to contain their energy," said East’s first-year head coach Buck McCoart. "Fairborn is a team that thrives off the energy of big plays. We knew we would have to block and play great defense. In all three games our blockers did an awesome job of shutting down Fairborn's two main offensive options."

McCoart, who was named the GMC Coach of the Year, is also a Fairborn volleyball alumnus. "It’s a great honor, but I'm just a victim of having a great group of gifted athletes. We’ve achieved both of our preseason team goals winning the GMC (8-0) and Regional Championship. Now we’ll work hard in practice this week and believe we can go as far as we want to."