Esports 11/19/2024 10:22:00 PM

Blinn Call of Duty sweeps WSU Tech to reach regional finals, clinch NJCAA Esports nationals berth

The Buccaneers face Laredo College for the Central Group 2 regional championship on Dec. 3

Esports 11/19/2024 10:22:00 PM

Blinn Call of Duty sweeps WSU Tech to reach regional finals, clinch NJCAA Esports nationals berth

The Buccaneers face Laredo College for the Central Group 2 regional championship on Dec. 3

The Blinn College esports Call of Duty team advanced to the NJCAA Esports Central Group 2 regional finals with a 3-0 best-of-five victory over Wichita State University Tech on Tuesday.

The win also gave the Buccaneers a berth in the upcoming NJCAA Esports Call of Duty National Tournament. Blinn will now battle Laredo College at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 3, for the right to represent the Central Group 2 as the top seed in the nine-team national tournament. Three teams from Central Group 1, Central Group 2, and the East will make up the field.

Tuesday's Call of Duty matchup pitted four Buccaneers against WSU Tech, with each team attempting to collect three wins across three modes of play in the first-person-shooter game:

Hardpoint: Teams secure rotating capture points, earning points for control. A team wins by reaching 250 points first.
Search and Destroy: Teams alternate attacking and defending, with the goal to plant or defuse an objective. The first team to win 6 rounds claims victory.
Control: Teams attack and defend two capture points, with limited lives adding an elimination aspect. The first team to win three rounds claims victory.

Blinn's team of Michael Allen, Josiah Koite, Isaias Nieto, and Joshua Russell earned the victory.

"Although we swept the series, it was closer than the score suggests," Bucs assistant coach and Call of Duty manager Ryan Lucich said. "We started off really hot on Hardpoint, opening up a huge lead, but I think our team got a bit overconfident, which allowed WSU Tech to win some of the later hills and make it a closer win for us than it should have been. WSU Tech jumped out to a decent lead in Search and Destroy, but my guys made really good adjustments and were able to narrowly take a 6-5 victory. We took a strong 3-1 victory in map three to close out the series."

Lucich said he was especially proud of Koite, who he said played a great map during the Search and Destroy round.

"Josiah's performance really helped us come back in map two," Lucich explained, "and we took that momentum into map three for the win."

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

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Players Mentioned

Isaias Nieto: Sophomore; Call of Duty

Players Mentioned

Isaias Nieto
: Sophomore; Call of Duty