Esports 2/11/2026 1:17:00 PM

Blinn Rocket League sweeps Tennessee State, Bucs Call of Duty splits two matches

Both teams will be back in action on Feb. 17

Esports 2/11/2026 1:17:00 PM

Blinn Rocket League sweeps Tennessee State, Bucs Call of Duty splits two matches

Both teams will be back in action on Feb. 17

The Blinn College esports team earned a National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) Rocket League victory while splitting two Collegiate Call of Duty League (CCL) matches Tuesday.

Blinn's Rocket League squad of Edward Tejada, Aaron Konen, Vallentino Rossi, and Khalil Nicholson defeated Tennessee State University 3-0 in a best-of-five series.

The Buccaneers improved to 1-1 in the NACE 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.
Blinn defeated the Tigers 5-1, 4-1, and 3-2.

"We started the match extremely strong and played to our expectations as the favorites in this matchup," Bucs head coach and Rocket League coach Kyle Murto said. "Our offensive pressure was consistent early, and we controlled the pace of play throughout the first two games, allowing us to close out the series cleanly.

"Overall, this was a strong performance and a good example of our depth and ability to rotate players while maintaining control of the match."

Murto praised the play of Nicholson, who he said in his first start for the team performed exceptionally well, serving as a reliable offensive outlet while also providing strong defense.

The Bucs will face Minnesota State University-Mankato in a NACE Rocket League bout at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 17.

In Call of Duty play, Blinn dropped a 3-0, best-of-five decision to the University of Oklahoma before bouncing back for a 3-0 victory over St. Mary's University.

The Bucs are now 3-1 in the CCL West Sun Belt Conference.

The quartet of Jaden Navarro, Aariz Ali, Semaj Howard, and Daniel Gonzalez competed for Blinn.

Tuesday's matchup pitted the four Bucs against the Sooners and Rattlers, with the teams 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.
Overload: Teams are placed on separate areas of a map and compete to capture an Overload Device, and must transport it to one of two detonation zones in the opposing team's area. The match ends when either team scores eight points.

In its loss to OU, Blinn was defeated 250-97 in the Hardpoint round (Den map), fell 6-3 in Search and Destroy (Scar map) and 6-4 in Overload (Scar map).

"Overall, we just weren't prepared at the start of the series, which is something I need to do better as a coach for our team," said Blinn assistant and Call of Duty coach Ryan Lucich. "I think this was a winnable match, and if we were on top of our game, rounds two and three could have gone differently. We'll work on being better from the outset."

The Bucs recovered quickly for a dominant performance against St. Mary's.

Blinn cruised to a 250-127 win in Hardpoint (Blackheart map), claimed a 6-2 win in Search and Destroy (Scar map), and finished the sweep with 5-2 decision in Overload (Exposure).

"I really enjoyed seeing our improvements in the Overload rounds in both series today," Lucich added. "I also want to commend Semaj, who had multiple clutch triple eliminations against St. Mary's. Both he and Daniel are learning quickly and catching up to the speed of our veteran players.

"As long as we continue to improve, I believe we'll be able to compete with some of the better teams in our conference."

Up next for Blinn Call of Duty is a CCL doubleheader on Feb. 17. The Bucs will face Texas State University at 8 p.m. and battle the University of Houston at 9:30 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Aaron Konen: Freshman; Rocket League

Vallentino Rossi: Sophomore; Rocket League

Aariz Ali: Sophomore; Call of Duty

Semaj Howard: Freshman; Call of Duty

Jaden Navarro: Freshman; Call of Duty

Daniel Gonzalez: Freshman; Call of Duty

Players Mentioned

Aaron Konen
: Freshman; Rocket League

Vallentino Rossi
: Sophomore; Rocket League

Aariz Ali
: Sophomore; Call of Duty

Semaj Howard
: Freshman; Call of Duty

Jaden Navarro
: Freshman; Call of Duty

Daniel Gonzalez
: Freshman; Call of Duty