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Cottey esports kicks off season with valiant Valorant effort
Cottey College’s first athletic event of the 2021-2022 school year took place Thursday evening, but not on any court, field, or track.
Instead, it was in the school’s esports arena on the bottom floor of the Hinkhouse Center, where the Comets took on Coffeyville Community College in a best two-out-of-three online match of the computer game Valorant.
“Awesome event to kick off the year. We had quite a few people here to start. Great atmosphere. Hopefully, we have more of those going forward,” said first-year head coach Dominic Habjan, whose team jumped out to a 2-0 lead before losing 13-3, 13-1. “As the season goes on, we’ll be able to have a better showing than we did today.”
In front of a roomful of fellow students and athletes watching and cheering them on, and live-streaming over Twitch with commentary from Cottey golf coach Eric Cameron and his 11-year-old son Ty (who plays on a competitive esports team in Kansas City), the Comets’ top five players battled Coffeyville’s top five in several rounds of “Spike Rush” — a game within the first-person shooter wherein one team carries a spike while the other team attacks. One school picks the map; the other gets to choose if they want to attack or defend. After 12 points, they swap.
Despite the seemingly lopsided scores, Cottey held its own — especially considering most of the players are Overwatch specialists (Coffeyville picked Valorant).
“They did really good for just starting a week ago. I’m super proud of my team,” said freshman Lucy Liu, one of the few Comets with extensive experience playing Valorant. “I really trust my team. We did really good. I think they (Coffeyville) just had more practice than us.”
According to Habjan, Liu’s experience showed.
“Lucy Liu is probably our star of the game, really providing some good leadership as a freshman, stepping in right away,” he said. “The returners, I have a lot of respect for their gameplay. I’m really proud of the way we competed tonight.”
The team had only started playing together three days ago, but the Comets are expected to fare much better come October 4 when their league play as part of the National Association of Collegiate Esports begins. Even better: the game of choice that first night will be Overwatch.
“We didn’t have very much practice with our team. We only played together, like, twice, so I know we will definitely get better. I think we were underprepared, but I’m very excited for the rest of the year,” said Liu, who only learned that Cottey had esports a few weeks before she arrived on campus from her home state of Hawaii. “I consider myself a social butterfly, so getting here was just perfect. Everyone’s super nice. I love it here. Video gaming is my passion. That’s what I love to do in my free time. So, to do that at school, it means a lot.”
Liu was one of three freshmen, along with Trinity Wilson from Doniphan and Ella Sapinoso from Alaska, who got the start on Thursday. They were joined by juniors Ash Cortright (Butler) and Jewlea Huff (Sheridan, Calif.) — while the rest of the roster includes players from North Carolina, Iowa, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Texas.
“Cottey is amazing in the fact that we have students from all over the world and a lot of states,” Habjan said. “It’s been an amazing experience working at Cottey, and we look forward to getting recruits for 2022 and beyond and expanding our game titles and really making ourselves a name in the esports scene.”
According to Liu, that should not take long.
“It’s one match. It’s one loss," she said. "But there are many more matches to come, and I think we’ll definitely get some wins in there."