Esports 2/26/2025 10:31:00 PM

Blinn competes in Overwatch, Call of Duty, Super Smash Bros., and Valorant matches

The Buccaneers went 2-5 across seven tilts

Esports 2/26/2025 10:31:00 PM

Blinn competes in Overwatch, Call of Duty, Super Smash Bros., and Valorant matches

The Buccaneers went 2-5 across seven tilts

The Blinn College esports Overwatch, Valorant, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate teams were in action Wednesday, with the Buccaneers producing mixed results.

Tenth-ranked Blinn Overwatch (Overwatch Collegiate Rankings Association) took on Wichita State University Tech in a best-of-three NJCAA Esports (NJCAAe) match and earned a 3-0 sweep.

The team of Joseph Mares, Haluk Tanriseven, Matthew Hutchings, Donnivan Straight, and Dhruv Pandrangi competed for the Bucs as the team improved to 2-0 in the Central Conference.

Overwatch is a team-based, first-person-shooter in which players select heroes with unique abilities and work together to complete objectives across multiple map modes. Each team can strategically choose its maps based on team strengths and opponent weaknesses.

Each round Wednesday included a different win condition based on the following modes:

Control: Teams fight to capture and hold a single point. The first team to reach 100% control wins two rounds in a best-of-three format, where the loser of each round picks the next map.
Escort: The attacking team moves a payload to its destination while defenders try to stop them. The payload moves when attackers are near it, and the attackers aim to complete the route before time runs out.
Hybrid: Teams capture a point and then escort a payload. The match is typically one round for attackers, who must secure the point first before moving the payload.
Push: Teams battle to control a robot and push it toward the opponent's side. The first team to push it farther than their opponents wins, with the loser picking the next map.
Clash: Teams capture consecutive points, with the first team to a set number of points winning.
Blinn earned wins in the Control, Hybrid, and Escort modes.

"Every player contributed to this victory, executing their roles with precision and maintaining strong team communication," Bucs head coach and Overwatch manager Kyle Murto said. "The team is clicking on all cylinders, and we are building great momentum as we continue through the NJCAAe season. We're proving match after match that we are one of the top teams in the league, and we're ready for whatever comes next."

Blinn's Overwatch campaign resumes when the Bucs take on Grand View University in a National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) match at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 4.

Blinn esports play continued with four one-on-one, best-of-five NJCAAe Super Smash Bros. Ultimate bouts, with the Bucs coming away with a 1-3 record.

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.

Kiara Molina fell to State Technical College of Missouri, Joshua De Los Santos dropped tilts against Laredo College (3-1) and Dallas College Eastfield (3-0), and Gage Cole earned a 3-0 sweep of his opponent from Eastfield.

Molina is now 2-2 in the Central 2 Conference, De Los Santos dropped to 1-3 in the Central 1 Conference, and Cole improved to 3-1 in Central 1 play.

"While the results weren't entirely in our favor, the team continues to gain valuable experience and grow with each match," said Murto, who also manages the Buccaneer Super Smash Bros. squad. "Our team is taking these matches as learning experiences and will continue working hard to improve. There's still plenty of season left, and we're ready to bounce back stronger in the upcoming matches."

The Bucs will continue their NJCAAe Super Smash Bros. season with eight one-on-one battles against Jefferson College, Dallas College Richland, Laramie County Community College, and Moberly Area Community College at 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 4.

Blinn's Call of Duty team was in action Wednesday and earned a 3-0 sweep over Randolph-Macon College in a best-of-five NACE matchup.

The team of Sirr McCook, Isaias Nieto, Aariz Ali, and Travis Stansberry were victorious for the Bucs and improved to 2-2 overall.

The matchup pitted the two teams against each other as they attempted 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.

"This was a big win to get ourselves back on the right track," said Blinn assistant coach and Call of Duty Manager Ryan Lucich. "We were able to outslay Randolph-Macon during all three maps and completely control the pace of the games. Each player had some nice highlights and their own moments throughout the series."

Blinn started the match with a 250-134 win in Hardpoint followed by a 6-3 triumph in Search and Destroy. The Bucs then closed out the sweep with a 3-0 victory in Control.

Blinn's Call of Duty season resumes with an NJCAAe tilt against Central Community College at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 4.

Concluding the evening was the Bucs' Valorant team, which fell short to Florida International University 2-0 in a best-of-three NACE match.

Blinn Valorant dropped to 0-3.

Zachary Sutton, Braeden Greiffenstein, Brendan Felicidario, Ilies Dolliazal, and Hector Carielo competed for the Bucs.

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.

"Everyone was happy with the performance today as we were able to take six rounds in both maps of an extremely close match," said Lucich, who coaches the Valorant team. "This team has consistently gotten better every week, and the fact we were able to contest a team as good as FIU shows that. If we stay focused, we'll be a real threat in the NACE NJCAA conference come playoff time."

Blinn Valorant faces Laramie County Community College in a Collegiate Valorant tilt at 6 p.m. on Thursday.

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

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Players Mentioned

Isaias Nieto: Sophomore; Call of Duty

Donnivan Straight: Sophomore; Overwatch

Haluk Tanriseven: Sophomore; Overwatch

Dhruv Pandrangi: Sophomore; Overwatch

Matthew Hutchings: Sophomore; Overwatch

Braeden Greiffenstein: Sophomore; Overwatch, Valorant

Gage Cole: Freshman; Super Smash Bros Ultimate

Kiara Molina: Sophomore; Super Smash Bros Ultimate

Aariz Ali: Freshman; Call of Duty

Sirr McCook: Sophomore; Call of Duty

Players Mentioned

Isaias Nieto
: Sophomore; Call of Duty

Donnivan Straight
: Sophomore; Overwatch

Haluk Tanriseven
: Sophomore; Overwatch

Dhruv Pandrangi
: Sophomore; Overwatch

Matthew Hutchings
: Sophomore; Overwatch

Braeden Greiffenstein
: Sophomore; Overwatch, Valorant

Gage Cole
: Freshman; Super Smash Bros Ultimate

Kiara Molina
: Sophomore; Super Smash Bros Ultimate

Aariz Ali
: Freshman; Call of Duty

Sirr McCook
: Sophomore; Call of Duty