BANNER ELK, N.C. – The Lees-McRae College esports team, under head coach
Casey Courtney, closed out the Fall semester of competitions with strong performances to earn postseason appearances for the League of Legends, Valorant, and Rainbow Six Siege teams, while also a strong finish for the Overwatch team.
"This was an impressive way to close out the first semester for our team", said Courtney. "We have worked hard all semester to improve every day and our team has found success so far this season. I'm excited to see what the future holds for this team. If we continue to improve at our current rate, we will be seeing National Esports Collegiate Conference (NECC) success in the coming semesters."
Here is the breakdown of all of the action happening the past couple of weeks:
League of Legends:
- After starting the season off strong, the League of Legends team fell to 3-5 to end the regular season and earned the No. 6 seed in NECC's Fall Postseason Tournament. The first round was slated against No. 3 Concordia-Wisconsin. After the Falcons clinched game one, the Bobcats tied up the series with a victory in game two. Lees-McRae clinched the first round with a win in the third game and moved on to face No. 2 UNA-Purple, the second-best team in the tournament. Even though the Bobcats fell in two games to UNA-Purple, the Bobcats took home a great experience for the team's first competition in the NECC.
Overwatch:
- The Lees-McRae Overwatch team worked hard in practice over the final few weeks and was rewarded as they picked up their first win of the season in Week 7. While the team did not qualify for postseason competition, the Bobcats worked hard and have developed synergy to build on their success in the Spring semester.
Rainbow Six Siege:
- The Lees-McRae Rainbow Six Siege team secured the No. 4 seed after a tightly-contested season where the Bobcats were tied for second place for multiple weeks in a row. Lees-McRae was matched up with No. 5 Clark University, who ultimately defeated the Bobcats with a pair of 7-5 wins. While the team had their sights set on a higher finish, their work this semester has laid the groundwork for future success. The Bobcats defeated the Rio Grande team earlier in the season who won the championship for the division. The team will look to learn from this year and build toward another successful run in the Spring.
Valorant:
- The Valorant team finished out the season with some strong performances from Jack Hallow and Corbin Pulido to secure the No. 8 seed in NECC's Fall Postseason Tournament, where they would face No. 1 Tennessee Tech-Purple. After losing a close match in the first game, Lees-McRae held strong before falling in game two. With their first competitive season completed, Valorant will look to retool for the Spring semester as they aim to make another run at postseason action.
For more information on Lees-McRae Athletics, follow the Bobcats on Twitter (@LMCBobcats), on Facebook (Lees-McRae Athletics), and on Instagram (leesmcraeathletics). To follow along with Esports updates, follow the program on Twitter (@LMC_Esports) and on Instagram (lmcesports).
