MARION, Ind. - Sometimes Esports teams can get caught looking ahead to Spring Break in the week leading up to break. The Wildcats Esports team was not one of those teams, as they cruised into Spring Break with a few big wins this week.

Valorant had two matches, starting with a battle between undefeated teams when they took on Illinois State on Monday night. Unfortunately for the redbirds, they showed up 20 minutes late to the match, leading to a Map 1 forfeit. Map 2, Fracture, ended up being closer than the Wildcats would have liked, but with two top-level teams competing, that is to be expected. After a 6-6 first half, the Wildcats began to pull away on defense. ISU's comeback hopes were dashed when En Milbourn, "DIce", clutched a 2v1 in the final round that gave the Wildcats a 13-11 map win and a 2-0 series win.

They had little time to celebrate, as they were right back in action on Tuesday night against fellow Wesleyan School, Ohio Wesleyan. The Wildcats started off on Haven and started off with a bang. They took a 10-1 lead early, before dropping 5 straight rounds. Those 5 rounds would be the last they would lose on the map however, as once they regained their composure they stormed through with a 13-6 map win. Map 2, Pearl, was more of the same, as the Wildcats also took that map 13-6.

Valorant moves to 5-0 on the season and is the only undefeated team left in the East A division. As they haven't dropped a single map this season, they have put themselves on track to lock up the East Conference #1 seed once the Conference Tournament kicks off in late March.

Meanwhile, Rocket League also had two big games this week, a double-header Thursday night against Kettering and Dayton.

The Kettering match was a rematch of last season, as the Wildcats lost a close 3-2 series against the Bulldogs. This time however, the Wildcats came to play. After Kettering tied the series 1-1, the Wildcats never looked back and took the 3-1 win. Then, they hopped into the match against Dayton with a lot of momentum. That showed after a 3-0 win in game 1, but Dayton answered back with a win of their own. The game could literally be seen as back and forth, because each team alternated wins until Jeb Byrd, "Drybbles", scored his 4th goal in game 5 to win the series for the Wildcats!

The two wins puts Rocket League at 4-1 in the NECC and 7-4 overall. The only NECC loss this season that the Wildcats have suffered was a 3-0 loss to Concordia St. Paul. Their 4-1 record puts them in a very good position to make the Central Conference Playoffs. If they win the final two games of the season, they will also be guaranteed a top 4 seeding.

There are no upcoming matches this week, as the Wildcats are off for Spring Break.

Standout Wildcats

• Drew Busman, "Novo", put up an incredible 76 eliminations on three maps, averaging over 25 elims per map
• Jeb Byrd, "Drybbles", tied his own record for most goals in a game this season with four. His four goals came in a winner-take-all game 5 vs Dayton, making the record even more impressive.

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





#