MARION, Ind. - This week was Fall break for IWU, so there were fewer matches for the Esports team. That being said, the quality of the matches certainly made up for the quantity!

The Wildcats Valorant team kicked things off with a match against Texas Christian University on Monday night. Both teams took a map 13-7 in the first two maps, making the third map, Sunset, the match decider. The Wildcats started with an early lead, but eventually TCU tied things up at 9-9 before winning the last 4 rounds of the map to take a 2-1 win. Valorant moves to 1-1 in NECC play and 2-3 overall. The eight team Central Conference A division currently has six teams that are tied for second with a 1-1 record, so the playoff race is still wide open for IWU.

Then on Thursday, the Wildcats Rocket League team took on Kettering University in a rematch of the NECC preseason. The Wildcats won the preseason game 3-0 and took their momentum from the win last week to a 2-0 series lead early. However, Kettering clawed their way back, winning games 3 and 4 in overtime. Game 4 featured an incredibly close 6 minute overtime before Kettering pulled ahead. Finally, Kettering took an early lead in game 5 and never looked back, giving them the 3-2 series win. Rocket League also moves to 1-1 in the NECC and still has great potential to make a playoff run.

Finally, Saturday marked the last match of the week with Smash Bros. taking on GLEC powerhouse Baldwin-Wallace. The Wildcats were able to grab some stocks in the first set, but struggled in the second, finishing with an 0-2 loss.

This week's standout Wildcats:

• Evan Stoller ("PokevanXD") recorded the first ace of the season for the Valorant team on Sunset.
• Jeb Byrd ("Drybbles") and Gise Gibson ("Twizt") both led the Rocket League team in scoring with 6 goals each against Kettering.
• The Smash Bros. team had a balanced week, with Joudain Brown ("Dain"), CJ Bloomer ("T0PP01NT"), and Josiah Bowers ("luigiboi30") all leading the team with 3 stocks.

Next week features a ton of action as all three Wildcat teams look to bounce back from losses this week. As always, you can catch the action on twitch.tv/IWU_Esports. Here's a preview:

Monday

• NECC Valorant vs. SMSU, 7pm EST

Tuesday

• NECC Smash Bros vs. Transylvania, 8pm

Thursday

• NECC Rocket League vs. Michigan's JV, 8pm

Saturday

• GLEC Smash Bros vs. Bethel (IN), 10am
• GLEC Valorant vs. Mount Union, 12pm

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