野狼社区 University鈥檚 Valorant Esports team won the National Association of Collegiate Esports Varsity Plus Grand Finals on Wednesday, the team鈥檚 first championship on a national scale in its three-year history.
The OCU team played the best-of-three match finals against Florida鈥檚 Keiser University for more than two hours, surrendering a close loss in the first game before winning the second and third games to win the overall championship series by a score of 2-1.
OCU team members are game design and animation majors Edward Bennett and Cooper Patrick, computer science majors Kaleb Cosgrave and Ryan McLaughlin, and instrumental performance major Karl Huber.
Connor Knudsen, who was named head coach last month, said the team鈥檚 dedication to hard work, practice and preparation paid off in the grand finals victory.
鈥淒espite the adversity they鈥檝e had to work through, both in the match itself and outside of it, the team was able to rally together and achieve an amazing win in front of a great crowd here at OCU鈥檚 Starcade esports arena,鈥� Knudsen said. 鈥淎chieving this kind of a win so early in my tenure at OCU is both humbling and inspiring and gives us positive momentum that we can continue to build on in the years ahead.鈥�
Valorant is a popular esports tournament game that uses a first-person shooter perspective format. Teams of agents alternate as attackers and defenders in each game of the series. Under tournament rules, teams compete in a best-of-three series comprised of games with multiple rounds. Games are played until one team has won 13 rounds.
OCU Esports also competes in Rocket League, Overwatch, Call of Duty and League of Legends. The program is open to students of all majors and offers scholarships to qualifying players. Under the umbrella of the Petree College of Arts & Sciences, the teams utilize the university鈥檚 Psychology and Exercise and Sport Science departments for mental and physical health needs to go along with their practice sessions.
OCU鈥檚 esports management bachelor鈥檚 degree program incorporates exercise sports science, broadcasting, advertising, event management, budgeting and content development to prepare students for careers in esports management and promotions.
