Esports 10/22/2025 8:37:00 PM

Blinn Call of Duty sweeps Trinity Valley in NJCAA Esports series

The Buccaneers' Rocket League teams concluded its fall season with a loss to Idaho State

Esports 10/22/2025 8:37:00 PM

Blinn Call of Duty sweeps Trinity Valley in NJCAA Esports series

The Buccaneers' Rocket League teams concluded its fall season with a loss to Idaho State

The Blinn College esports team went 1-1 in a pair of matches Tuesday.

The Buccaneers prevailed over Trinity Valley Community College in an NJCAA Esports (NJCAAe) tilt, while Blinn Rocket League came up short in National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) loss to Idaho State University.

Blinn got off to a strong start Tuesday with a 3-0 victory over Trinity Valley in a best-of-five series.

The Buccaneers were led to victory by Jaden Navarro, Aariz Ali, Karsyn Krchnak, and Jordan Vo, who improved to 3-2 in NJCAAe play.

The matchup pitted the four Bucs against the Cardinals, 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.

The Bucs dominated the match, earning a 250-4 victory in Hardpoint; a 6-2 win in the Search and Destroy round; and a 3-0 triumph in the Control round.

"We'll look to take this momentum into our last few regular-season games as we hope to ramp things up for playoffs," Blinn assistant coach and Call of Duty coach Ryan Lucich said.

The Bucs continue their Call of Duty season with an NJCAAe tilt against Brookdale Community College at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 28.

Blinn's night concluded with a 3-1, best-of-five loss to Idaho State.

Competing for the Bucs were Edward Tejada, Aaron Konen, and Vallentino Rossi.

Blinn ended its NACE Varsity Premier season with an 0-6 mark in the West-Central Conference.

Rocket League combines elements of soccer with fast-paced car mechanics. Teams of three players use rocket-powered vehicles to hit a ball into the opponent's goal. The team with the most goals during a five-minute round wins.

Idaho State prevailed 7-2 and 3-2 in the opening rounds before the Bucs got on the board with a 5-1 victory in round three. The Bengals closed out the series with a 3-1 victory.

"Tonight was a reflection of our entire fall: We played amazing Rocket League, pushed top-level opponents to their limit, and consistently punched up against programs considered to be some of the best in the nation," Blinn head coach and Rocket League coach Kyle Murto said. "The reality of our situation was that we were placed in one of the strongest, top-heavy conferences NACE has fielded in years. Even so, the players never backed down. We fought tooth and nail; we forced overtimes; we pushed favorites to the brink; and came heartbreakingly close to multiple upsets. We are going to come back stronger next semester when we go into NJCAAe play, and I believe we will see our team make a playoff run."

Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 53 national championships since 1987.

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Players Mentioned

Aaron Konen: Freshman; Rocket League

Vallentino Rossi: Sophomore; Rocket League

Aariz Ali: Sophomore; Call of Duty

Karsyn Krchnak: Sophomore; Call of Duty

Jaden Navarro: Freshman; Call of Duty

Jordan Vo: Sophomore; Call of Duty

Players Mentioned

Aaron Konen
: Freshman; Rocket League

Vallentino Rossi
: Sophomore; Rocket League

Aariz Ali
: Sophomore; Call of Duty

Karsyn Krchnak
: Sophomore; Call of Duty

Jaden Navarro
: Freshman; Call of Duty

Jordan Vo
: Sophomore; Call of Duty