Esports 11/6/2026 12:48:00 AM

Blinn esports teams earn dominant victories in Valorant and Overwatch

Valorant and Overwatch remain strong in NACE and NJCAAe play; Call of Duty opens NACE season with a competitive loss

Esports 11/6/2026 12:48:00 AM

Blinn esports teams earn dominant victories in Valorant and Overwatch

Valorant and Overwatch remain strong in NACE and NJCAAe play; Call of Duty opens NACE season with a competitive loss

Blinn College esports had a busy stretch of competition, highlighted by dominant victories from the Buccaneers' Valorant and Overwatch teams on Wednesday, Nov. 4.

The Valorant team swept Elizabeth City State University 2-0 in NACE Regular Season play, while the nationally ranked Overwatch team earned a 3-0 NJCAAe victory over Trinity Valley Community College. Blinn's Call of Duty team opened its NACE season with a 3-0 loss to Keiser University Sarasota.

VALORANT
The Bucs continued their strong run in NACE Regular Season competition Wednesday, sweeping Elizabeth City State University 2-0 without surrendering a single round. Blinn assistant coach and Valorant manager Ryan Lucich said the matchup provided an opportunity to experiment with unconventional compositions while keeping the team's established strategies hidden for future opponents.

"Knowing that we had an opportunity to experiment without revealing too much of our established playbook, the guys decided to run some unconventional compositions and enjoy a more relaxed approach to the match while still taking care of business," Lucich said.

Blinn's lineup featured Michael Pint, Ahnaf Khan, Tyler Hartman, Samuel Long, and Brian Yang.

The Bucs improved to 3-1 in NACE play.

Valorant is a tactical, team-based first-person shooter in which five-player teams select agents with unique abilities and alternate between attacking and defending. The attacking team attempts to plant a spike at a designated site, while defenders work to prevent the plant or defuse the spike. The first team to win 13 rounds claims the map, with overtime played if the score reaches 12-12.

The Bucs established control immediately on Corrode, experimenting with unconventional agent compositions and playstyles rather than relying on their traditional strategies and structured approaches. Blinn found success taking aggressive fights throughout the map, challenging for space early and using its individual gunplay to win engagements. The Bucs cruised to a 13-0 victory.

Blinn carried that momentum into Haven, continuing to experiment with different compositions and approaches. With three available sites, the Bucs spread out across the map and challenged Elizabeth City State in different areas, keeping their opponent guessing about where Blinn would ultimately attack. The Bucs completed the sweep with another 13-0 victory.

Elizabeth City State recently launched its esports program and is competing in its first semester of collegiate esports competition. Blinn entered the matchup with a significant experience advantage and used the opportunity to experiment with different strategies while keeping its established playbook under wraps for future opponents.

OVERWATCH
The No. 11-ranked Bucs delivered one of their most convincing performances of the season Wednesday, sweeping Trinity Valley Community College 3-0 in NJCAAe competition. Blinn head coach and Overwatch manager Kyle Murto said the team combined strong communication and execution with an aggressive approach throughout the match.

"Tonight was about as dominant as it gets," Murto said. "The team looked confident, coordinated, and aggressive all night long."

Blinn's lineup featured Donnivan Straight, Jose Soliz, Antony Luna, Dylan Wiley, Salvador Castaneda, and Charles Tomlinson.

The Bucs improved to 6-0 in NJCAAe play and are ranked No. 11 nationally by OWCRA.

Overwatch is a team-based first-person shooter in which players select heroes with unique abilities and work together to complete objectives across multiple game modes. Teams must coordinate their attacks, defenses, and hero selections to control objectives and outplay their opponents.

Blinn opened the match with a 2-0 victory on Lijiang Tower in the Control game mode before taking New Queen Street 2-0 in Push. The Bucs completed the sweep with a 3-0 win on Suravasa in Flashpoint.

Blinn controlled the action from start to finish, winning fights decisively and keeping Trinity Valley pinned back for much of the match. The team even experimented with several unconventional, off-meta compositions while maintaining strong communication, coordination, and execution.

The Bucs will face UCLA on Thursday, Nov. 5, during the second-to-last week of the Collegiate Overwatch Swiss Stage.

CALL OF DUTY
The Bucs opened their NACE against Keiser University Sarasota, falling 3-0 in a competitive series featuring the newly released Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4. Blinn assistant coach and Call of Duty manager Ryan Lucich said the team gained valuable experience competing in the new game despite the opening loss.

"Although this was a tough loss to open our NACE season, we learned a lot, especially with this being a brand-new game," Lucich said. "I feel like we will be able to carry that with us going forward into our next matches."

Blinn's lineup featured Jaden Navarro, Joshua Simme, Pablo Tarazaga, and Daniel Gonzalez.

Blinn dropped to 0-1 in NACE play.

Call of Duty is a first-person shooter featuring competitive team-based game modes that challenge players to secure objectives, control territory, and eliminate opponents. Hardpoint tasks teams with capturing and holding rotating control zones to accumulate points, while Search and Destroy features attacking and defending teams competing to plant or prevent the detonation of an objective.

The series opened with Hardpoint on Rooftops, where the teams traded control of the objective throughout the match. Keiser gradually gained the advantage by rotating more effectively between hills and establishing strong defensive setups. Blinn ultimately fell 250-152.

The teams remained close in the second map, Search and Destroy, also played on Rooftops. Big plays from Navarro and Gonzalez helped Blinn trade rounds with Keiser, but the opponent's effective flanking routes in the later rounds proved decisive in a 6-4 loss.

Blinn struggled initially in the third map, Hijacked, on Munition, as the team adjusted to the new game mode and its mechanics. After falling behind 101-0, the Bucs began to find their footing and mounted a nearly successful comeback. The match came down to the final seconds, but Blinn was unable to deliver the objective into Keiser's capture point and fell 101-81.

The Bucs will look to build on the experience as NACE competition continues.

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Pablo Tarazaga: Sophomore; Call of Duty

Jaden Navarro: Sophomore; Call of Duty

Daniel Gonzalez: Sophomore; Call of Duty

Charles Tomlinson: Sophomore; Overwatch

Dylan Wiley: Freshman; Overwatch

Donnivan Straight: Sophomore; Overwatch

Jose Soliz: Freshman; Overwatch

Salvador Castaneda: Freshman; Overwatch

Antony Luna: Freshman; Overwatch

Michael Pint: Sophomore; Valorant

Players Mentioned

Pablo Tarazaga
: Sophomore; Call of Duty

Jaden Navarro
: Sophomore; Call of Duty

Daniel Gonzalez
: Sophomore; Call of Duty

Charles Tomlinson
: Sophomore; Overwatch

Dylan Wiley
: Freshman; Overwatch

Donnivan Straight
: Sophomore; Overwatch

Jose Soliz
: Freshman; Overwatch

Salvador Castaneda
: Freshman; Overwatch

Antony Luna
: Freshman; Overwatch

Michael Pint
: Sophomore; Valorant