MARION, Ind. - After some tough losses last week, Esports grabbed a couple of important wins this week!

1-1 Valorant took on 0-2 SMSU on Monday in NECC conference play. The Wildcats played a close Icebox but took it 13-10. From there, it was all the Wildcats, as they stormed into a 13-1 win on Ascent and took the series 2-0.

Smash Bros. got their first win of the season on Tuesday, taking down Transylvania University in a dominant 2-0 win. They move to 1-1 in the NECC and put themselves back in a position to make playoffs.

On Thursday, Rocket League looked to bounce back after a reverse sweep loss to Kettering. They took on Michigan's JV team and started with two dominant games. Michigan was able to get the game 3 win, but Wildcats quickly shut down their momentum with a 3-1 win in game 4 and a 3-1 series win. They move to 2-1 in NECC play and hold the second place spot in the standings for the Midwest B division.

Finally, two GLEC matches kicked off Saturday morning, with Smash Bros. taking on St. Francis (Ind.) and Valorant taking on Mount Union. The Smash Bros. team lost a close 0-2, despite missing a starter in the morning. They took St. Francis down to their last stock in the second set, becoming just barely able to secure a third set.

For Valorant, they came in as underdogs in the GLEC match against Mount Union. Against the odds, the Wildcats grabbed an early win on Icebox, 13-9. However, map 2, Sunset, was all Mount Union, who won it 13-6. Finally, the last map of the day, Lotus, was an exciting one. Mount Union started off with a 4-0 lead, before the Wildcats won 10 rounds in a row. Even though Mount Union fought back, the Wildcats quelled their momentum and took lotus 13-8. This 2-1 win keeps the Wildcats playoff hopes alive in the GLEC.

This week's Standout Wildcats

• Team captain Jourdain Brown, "Dain", led the Wildcats with 11 stocks taken in the first set in Smash Bros. win over Transylvania. That is the most stocks taken by a Wildcat in Smash Bros. history, both in a single set and in a match overall.
• Drew Busman, "Novo", dropped two aces on Icebox in the win against Mount Union. He finished 28-16-2 on the map
• Jeb Byrd, "Drybbles", put 7 goals in the net during Rocket League's win over Michigan. He also led the team in points, with 1,960 over the four games.

We've got an action-packed week upcoming, so here is our slate of games for next week:

Monday: 

• NECC Valorant vs. North Georgia, 7pm EST

Tuesday:

• GLEC Smash Bros vs. Bethel (IN), 6pm EST

Thursday:

• GLEC Valorant vs. Cleary, 8pm EST
• NECC Rocket League vs. Missouri S&T, 8pm EST

Friday:

• GLEC Valorant vs. Cleveland State, 7pm EST

Saturday:

• GLEC Valorant vs. Tiffin, 12pm EST

Follow Athletics (@IWUWildcats): Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Follow Esports (@IWU_Esports): Twitter | Twitch



#