Esports 10/3/2025 9:55:00 AM

Blinn Valorant shuts out Western Iowa Tech for second NJCAA Esports victory

The Buccaneers' SSBU team dropped a NACE match to Texas A&M International

Esports 10/3/2025 9:55:00 AM

Blinn Valorant shuts out Western Iowa Tech for second NJCAA Esports victory

The Buccaneers' SSBU team dropped a NACE match to Texas A&M International

The Blinn College esports team earned a shutout victory over Western Iowa Tech Community College in Valorant play, while also coming up short in a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate loss to Texas A&M International University on Thursday.

The Buccaneers' Valorant squad of Ilies Dolliazal, Milad Khorsandi, Hayden Rubino, Camdin Sims, and Brian Yang blanked Western Iowa Tech 2-0 in a best-of-three NJCAA Esports (NJCAAe) match to improve to 2-0.

Valorant is a tactical, team-based, first-person shooter set in a near-future world. Teams of five players choose unique agents with distinct abilities, combining shooting skills with strategic use of each agent's toolkit. Teams alternate between attacking and defending. Attackers aim to plant a spike at one of the designated sites, while defenders try to prevent this or defuse the spike if planted. The first team to win 13 rounds claims victory. If both teams reach a tie at 12-12, overtime is triggered, and the match continues until one team wins by two rounds, with teams alternating between attacking and defending in each overtime round.

On the opening Ascent map, Blinn cruised to a 13-5 victory. Yang was key in the role of shot caller for the Bucs, a move assistant coach and Valorant coach Patrick Daley proved key to the round-one win.

"The decision paid off immediately," Daley explained. "With Brian's direction and gunfighting presence, we put constant pressure on Western Iowa both through utility usage and early-round duels."

In the second round (Lotus map), stormed to a commanding 11-0 lead before finishing with a 13-1 victory.

"We overwhelmed them with sharp communication and relentless site pressure," Daley said. "Hayden added to the early surge with key shooting, while Ilies opened round after round with explosive entries.
"The team left the match with renewed confidence, excited not just about the win but also about how well our role adjustments and new strategies clicked. That success has the squad eager to keep experimenting and building on fresh looks heading into next week."

Blinn Valorant continues its season with a National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) clash against the University of Texas-Arlington at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 8.

Blinn's Super Smash Bros. Ultimate team was also in action Thursday, but endured a 2-0 loss to Texas A&M International in a best-of-three NACE tilt.

Gage Cole, Kiara Molina, James Rinehart, and Braeyelyn Mitchell competed for the Bucs.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is a crossover fighting game where players, either in one-on-one or four-on-four matches, aim to knock each other off a combat stage. The objective is for players to inflict damage to increase their opponents' likelihood of being knocked off the platform. In singles play, each player has a set number of lives or "stocks," and the match is won by reducing the opponent's stocks to zero. In crew battles, teams take turns battling, with stock carryover. The team that eliminates all opposing players' stocks first wins. Series are often best-of-three or best-of-five.

"Despite the result, the team is proud of the progress they've made and the chance to compete in NACE against strong opponents," said Daley, who also leads Blinn's Super Smash Bros Ultimate team. "They're keeping their heads high, continuing to grow from every match, and looking forward to building momentum next week."

The Bucs get back to work with a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate NACE bout against the University of South Florida at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 9.

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

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Players Mentioned

Ilies Dolliazal: Sophomore; Valorant

Milad Khorsandi: Freshman; Valorant

Hayden Rubino: Freshman; Valorant

Camdin Sims: Freshman; Valorant

Brian Yang: Freshman; Valorant

Braeyelyn Mitchell: Freshman; Overwatch/Super Smash Bros Ultimate

Gage Cole: Sophomore; Super Smash Bros Ultimate

Kiara Molina: Sophomore; Super Smash Bros Ultimate

James Rinehart: Freshman; Super Smash Bros Ultimate

Players Mentioned

Ilies Dolliazal
: Sophomore; Valorant

Milad Khorsandi
: Freshman; Valorant

Hayden Rubino
: Freshman; Valorant

Camdin Sims
: Freshman; Valorant

Brian Yang
: Freshman; Valorant

Braeyelyn Mitchell
: Freshman; Overwatch/Super Smash Bros Ultimate

Gage Cole
: Sophomore; Super Smash Bros Ultimate

Kiara Molina
: Sophomore; Super Smash Bros Ultimate

James Rinehart
: Freshman; Super Smash Bros Ultimate