The Blinn College esports Valorant team is national champion once again.
The Buccaneers earned two wins at the National Esports Collegiate Conference Legends Division local area network (LAN) event to capture the championship Sunday at Esports Stadium Arlington in Arlington, Texas.
The team of Adam Laamoumi, Ludovic Lefebvre-Lavigne, Teague Morgan, Michael Rieger, and Anthony Nguyen defeated Fisher College 2-0 in the semifinal round before knocking off Northwood University 2-0 in the grand finals. Both matches were contested under a best-of-three format.
“I am extremely proud of the results from our team this weekend,” Blinn head coach and Valorant team manager Aaron Kapiko said. “We started slow, but we went on an absolute tear with the team performing exceptionally well to take the title.”
The national championship is the second for Blinn Valorant after the team captured the NJCAA Esports crown during the Spring 2023 semester.
(Pictured: From left, the Blinn Valorant team of Teague Morgan, Adam Laamoumi, Ludovic Lefebvre-Lavigne, Michael Rieger, and Anthony Nguyen)
The Bucs’ Valorant squad also competed in the group phase and bracket play of the College Esports Commissioners Cup (CECC) over the weekend and placed second following a 2-0 setback to Saint Clair College.
In other Blinn esports action, the Buccaneer Overwatch team also competed in Overwatch CECC and qualified for the eight-team Knockout Stage before bowing out in the first round.
Haluk Tanriseven, Matthew Hutchings, Dhruv Pandrangi, Donnivan Straight, and Braeden Greiffenstein competed for Blinn.
Each match was a best-of-five series.
The Bucs took out Southern New Hampshire University (3-2) to open group play before falling to Illinois State University (3-0). A win over Southern New Hampshire capped Blinn’s group play turn and pushed them into the Knockout Stage.
The Bucs’ CECC run came to a close with a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Northwood University.
“I am proud of our performance this week at CECC and the finish we had,” Blinn assistant coach and Overwatch manager Kyle Murto said. “As our semester of Overwatch competition comes to a close, I couldn’t be prouder of our team’s performance and growth. Every player demonstrated exceptional resilience, with Matthew Hutchings emerging as a standout leader. With all our players returning next year, we look forward to building upon this experience and striving for even greater success in future competitions.”
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 47 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
