MARION, Ind. - The NECC Conference Tournaments started this past week for IWU Esports with Rocket League and Valorant both competing in the Quarterfinals of their respective conferences.
#1 seeded Valorant kicked things off with a match against #8 seeded Pace University on Monday. Playing Bind and Pearl, the Wildcats struggled early on the first half in both maps, leading to a 6-6 draw at half on both. However, they caught absolute fire in the second half, dominating Pace and only losing one round in the second half of both maps. On Pearl, the second map of the season,
Nick Everett, "oziie", recorded his third ace of the season late in the second half. His ace ties him with
Evan Stoller, "Pokevan", for the team's most aces this season. The 13-7, 13-7 win over Pace moves IWU on to the East Conference Semifinals, where they'll take on #5 Wright State.
For Rocket League, they took on #7 Nebraska-Omaha on Wednesday night. The match started slow for the Wildcats, who dropped the first game 1-0. However, a string of late comebacks in games 2 and 3 gave the Wildcats the lead. UNO would go on to tie the series at 2 games a piece, before Sophomore star
Jeb Byrd, "Drybbles", put the team on his back. Byrd scored the game winner in overtime of game 5, before putting the series out of reach with two goals in game 6.
The Wildcats Rocket League team will take on #3 Wayne State in the semifinals. After the stunning upset of #1 seeded Carthage, the Wildcats are the highest remaining seed in the Mideast conference tournament.
Both semifinal matches next week will be livestreamed to the Globe Theater on IWU's Marion Campus as well as their twitch channel, twitch.tv/IWU_Esports
Standout Wildcats
- Senior starter Evan "Pokevan" Stoller showed why he leads Valorant's East Conference in several stats this season. He led the Wildcats with 28 eliminations on both maps, even eclipsing 400 average combat score on Pearl with 406.
- Jeb "Drybbles" Byrd had a great finish to the series against UNO on Wednesday, but it was freshman standout Harrison "Farriex" Gilbert who led the Wildcats statistically. He scored five goals for the Wildcats, grabbing a goal in 4 of the series' 6 games.
Upcoming Week
Monday
- #1 Valorant vs. #5 Wright State, 7pm, Globe Theater
Wednesday
- #2 Rocket League vs. #3 Wayne State, time TBD, Globe Theater
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