Esports | 10/15/2019 12:02:00 PM

This is the latest updates from the Esports team at Davenport University. This is from competitions between Sept. 30 and Oct. 6.

Overwatch
After winning their first matchup of the Overwatch Varsity Collegiate Series hosted by TESPA then taking a win by forfeit in their second match of the weekend, Davenport University Esports Overwatch team starts their season 2-0.
After placing 16^th out of 120 teams in the TESPA Overwatch qualifiers, the team is looking to make a statement this season.

When asked how she feels the team will hold up to the competition this year team captain Mae "Duarfs" Zurita had this to say;
"Under excellent leadership and an experienced support line the team has been able to quickly synchronize its movements. Better focus on communication and working on game sense couldn't hurt either. This is the first season that Davenport has the Overwatch team, and we are determined to make a strong first appearance."
 
Rainbow Six: Siege
After a strong start to the match gaining a two-round lead, the Davenport Esports Rainbow Six: Siege team fell to Matrix gaming 7-4. This was their first matchup of the season in the Contenders league hosted by UpsurgeGG.

Despite the loss, the team has high hopes this season as team captain Damian "Apache" Cole says;
"Overall the team is in a good spot to only go upward. Tonight, being our first game, the potential to have a great season is absolutely there and after some fine tuning I think we will be turning heads."

Rainbow Six faces off against Royalty Gaming this Saturday.
 
Smash Ultimate
The Smash Ultimate Team faced off against some of the best competition in the nation that Smash Ultimate had to offer last weekend, heading to the Big House Tournament in Detroit. The team didn't go down without a fight winning a few of their first matches, but ultimately got knocked out on day one.

When asked about how he felt about the teams progress this season team captain Ben "Roo" Pawloski provided this comment;
"In regard to our performance at Big House, I wish that we could have done better, and I believe that it was expected of us to perform better than we did. Going forward, I believe that it would be in our best interest to allot a section of practice to reviewing film/researching character information. It is imperative that we understand what we could be achieving with our characters, had we understood that it was possible to achieve these things."

The team captain has high hopes this season for the team and wants to see each of them succeed to the best of their abilities.
Smash Ultimate heads to Bronco Beatdown at Western Michigan University later this month.
 
Apex Legends
The Apex Legends team had their first match of the season last Friday, participating in the Indy Gaming League fall circuit. At the end of week one the team took sixth out of twenty-three other teams and currently holds fifth in their division.

"At the end of the day, I'm very happy with our progress," said team captain Jeremy "Shadow" Rogers. "Basically, the first six weeks are a point race, a few teams played early before the new map was released on Tuesday so they had an advantage, but to take sixth-place in a new environment, that we only had one day to practice on is no small feat."

The Apex Legends team plays again this Friday at 6 p.m. in week 2 and is available to watch at https://www.twitch.tv/Davenport_Esports.
 
League of Legends
Last Wednesday, Davenport's League of Legends team faced off against Central Michigan University, hosted by GGLeagues. In what started off as a rough matchup turned around quickly for the Panthers as they shutout CMU 2-0. We asked team captain Reis "Solura" Trent for a comment;
"I feel like we're improving at a very fast rate. I think we're all getting better as players and it only goes up from here. We're getting more comfortable with each other, and I as shot caller, am getting better understanding how to communicate efficiently to the whole team. We're the best we've been, and we've only been playing together for a month. The next games might be challenging after looking at our opponents, but I have no doubt in my mind that we can go undefeated."

League of Legends plays their next match Wednesday at 9 p.m.
 
Rocket League
Rocket League is off to a rocky start this year, overall the team is 9-8, competing in both the Indy Gaming League (IGL) and the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE). Their best showing of the year so far was during Mizzou's Invitational finishing top 32 out of 170 teams.

Panthers Rocket League went 4-3 during the Collegiate Rocket League qualifiers which was not quite enough to qualify for the CRL season. Davenport also competes in IGL weekly, which they are currently starting out 0-1.
In NACE, the Panthers currently stand at 2-2 with their last match being versus cross-city rivals Aquinas. The match was NACE's "Match of the Day" versus the Saints. It was a great series, but Davenport fell to Aquinas 3-1 in the best-of-five matchup.

Rocket League captain Brenden "BCDub" Wardlaw had this to say; "We have a lot of work to do, I have seen great improvement in our team from the start of the year. But we still have lost games we should not have and until we straighten out, we are going to continue to struggle."

Overall, the team has many more weeks for preparation to further success. Rocket League's next match up is Thursday, Oct. 14 at 8 p.m.
 
Counter Strike: Global Offensive
With both the Collegiate Star League's (CSL) fall tournament and the National Association of Collegiate Esports's (NACE) tournament in the spring, the CS:GO team brings plenty opportunities for proud Panthers to watch and cheer.
The first match of CSL is right around the corner, next Saturday, October 19. To prepare, the Panthers have been scrimmaging often and competing in the ESEA Open league. The new roster is eager to prove itself, so catch the games Saturday at 3 p.m.
 
You can keep up with the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team and all other Davenport Esports teams by following us on Twitter @DU_Esport and on our Twitch page at https://www.twitch.tv/Davenport_Esports.

The Davenport University Esports team is in its first year as a varsity program and is looking to prove itself as a statement team in the collegiate Esports scene.