Blinn's Valorant and Super Smash Bros teams pick up victories

The second-ranked Blinn College esports Valorant team earned a 2-0 victory over Utica University on Wednesday.

The win pushed the Buccaneers to 4-0 overall in National Association of Collegiate Esports play.

Competing for Blinn were Austin Ray, Bruce Nguyen, Teague Morgan, Hayden Whitaker, and Adam Laamoumi.

The Bucs also earned a trio of wins in Super Smash Bros play Wednesday.

(Pictured: The Blinn College esports Super Smash Bros team, from left, Jaydon Flores, Christian Ekpenike, and Brett Fahrenholz.)

In three one-on-one matches, Christian Ekpenike defeated his opponent from Terra State Community College 3-0; Jaydon Flores earned a 3-0 victory over his foe from Southwestern Oregon Community College; and Brett Fahrenholz also was triumphant in a match against Southwestern Oregon with a 3-0 victory.

In a Call of Duty bout, the Buccaneers were defeated by 16th-ranked Westcliff University, 3-0. Competing for Blinn were David Rodriguez, Landon Campos, Jake Marsh, and Mathew Liu.

Blinn keeps its season going with a Valorant match against Northern Virginia Community College at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 23.

Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 42 NJCAA national championships since 1987.