Esports 10/8/2024 11:04:00 PM

Blinn Overwatch picks up NACE win, Call of Duty falls in NJCAAe tilt

The Buccaneers fell to 5-6-1 overall and 4-5 in region play

Esports 10/8/2024 11:04:00 PM

Blinn Overwatch picks up NACE win, Call of Duty falls in NJCAAe tilt

The Buccaneers fell to 5-6-1 overall and 4-5 in region play

The Blinn College esports team split a pair of matches Tuesday as the Buccaneers earned an Overwatch victory but fell in Call of Duty play.

Blinn Overwatch defeated Converse University 3-0-1 in a best-of-five National Association of College Esports (NACE) matchup.

The team of Kyoung Lee, Haluk Tanriseven, Matthew Hutchings, Donnivan Straight, and Dhruv Pandrangi helped the Bucs improve to 2-2 in the NACE Varsity Premier Super Conference.

Blinn assistant coach and Overwatch manager Kyle Murto said his team's performance against Converse was a direct result of its third-place finish at last weekend's DreamHack Atlanta Collegiate Invitational.

"After DreamHack, we identified key areas for improvement and focused on space control, tempo, and ultimate economy," Murto explained. "Our adjustments paid off as we secured a decisive win. This performance was exactly what we needed to reaffirm our strengths and regain momentum. It was a testament to our team's ability to learn from setbacks and make rapid adjustments, and every player stepped up to deliver a display of skill and synergy that puts us in a strong position moving forward."

Next up for Blinn Overwatch is an NJCAA Esports (NJCAAe) bout against Western Iowa Tech Community College scheduled for 6 p.m. on Wednesday.

Blinn's other esports tilt Tuesday saw the Buccaneer Call of Duty team fall 3-2 to Wichita State University Tech in an NJCAAe bout.

Josiah Koite, Isaias Nieto, Michael Allen, and Joshua Russell competed for the Bucs.

Blinn is now 1-1 in NJCAAe play.

"We came out a little flat and dropped the first two maps before turning things around," Bucs assistant coach and Call of Duty manager Ryan Lucich. "In maps three and four, we completely out-slayed them and took the momentum back. We knew map five was one we hadn't practiced much, and we just couldn't find our footing. This was a team we all feel we should have beaten, but I'm happy we were able to display a lot of resilience and almost pull off the reverse sweep. That experience will help us a lot going into future matches as well as playoffs later on."

The Bucs will take on Gogebic Community College in an NJCAAe matchup at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 15.

Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 49 NJCAA national championships since 1987.

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