The Blinn College esports Valorant team qualified for the Collegiate Valorant (CVAL) playoffs with a 2-1 victory over Madison College on Thursday.
The Buccaneers defeated the Wolfpack in a best-of-three series, and did so behind the play of , Zachary Sutton, Hector Carielo, Brendan Felicidario, and Ilies Dolliazal.
Blinn needed the win to secure a postseason berth, as a loss would have brought an end to its CVAL campaign. The Bucs finished the regular season 6-3 in the NJCAA Esports Conference.
Valorant is a tactical, team-based, first-person shooter set in a near-future world. Teams of five players choose unique agents with distinct abilities, combining shooting skills with strategic use of each agent’s toolkit. Teams alternate between attacking and defending. Attackers aim to plant a spike at one of the designated sites, while defenders try to prevent this or defuse the spike if planted. The first team to win 13 rounds claims victory. If both teams reach a tie at 12-12, overtime is triggered, and the match continues until one team wins by two rounds, with teams alternating between attacking and defending in each overtime round.
Blinn won the opening round 13-11, fell 13-7 in the second, and bounced back with a 13-6 triumph to clinch the series.
“This was our most important match of the season so far, and I couldn’t be happier with our performance,” Bucs assistant coach and Valorant manager Ryan Lucich said. “Everything came together for us in Map 3. Braeden had an incredible game and led the scoreboard with 27 kills, and everyone was on the same page. It turned out to be one of our best maps of the semester. I’m excited to see what we’re able to do in the playoffs.”
Blinn begins its playoff run on March 28. Its opponent and match time have yet to be determined.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 49 national championships since 1987.
