The Tarlton Complex on the campus of Catawba Valley Community College (CVCC) hosts sports competitions among students throughout the year. This time of year, however, this same gym that hosts Red Hawks basketball games transforms into a whole new space. On the court, two hoops are replaced by 40 PCs. Instead of competing in physical form, student athletes battled it out digitally. Their goal? To connect with colleges and compete amongst rivals for a college esports recruiting live-event title.
The 3rd Annual CVCC Campus Series LAN featured Rocket League, VALORANT, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate™ with a $900 prize pool. Let's reflect on the results and the weekend as a whole. Sit back and enjoy the final BearLight breakdown LAN-edition of the Spring season.
ROCKET LEAGUE
ROCKET LEAGUE RECAP
Walking into CVCC, 2023 Stay Plugged In Coca-Cola All-Star, Adrift had already won four Stay Plugged In live events. In front of him, the opportunity to set a Stay Plugged In record with another title in NC.
He brought in long-time teammate, Skylin3 who has also collected two of his own SPIN LAN titles. With them, Rank B+ (6Mans) Twitch partner, Landen to round out the roster and give them their name - Landen Esports.
The talent pool proved deep. Three of the top four teams in the CMS district of NC competed. The Dream Team, featuring NA prodigy and rising freshman Dxrk, as well as the CVCC Red Hawks squad were present and accounted for.
Yet despite all of this skill, two teams still emerged above the rest. Landen Esports, and The Three Stooges - Daffy, Blirry, and SPIN alumni, Night. Both teams were perfect in series played through Groups all the way until the Grand Finals. During that timeframe, only The Three Stooges had lost a single game, and they had only lost 3 in an arguably stronger group.
Inevitably, The Three Stooges and Landen Esports would meet in the Grand Finals. The Stooges would take a couple of games, but it would be Landen Esports to take the title, giving Landen his first, Skylin3 his third, and Adrift his record-breaking FIFTH Stay Plugged In LAN title. Congratulations!
ROCKET LEAGUE WINNERS
1ST PLACE | LANDEN ESPORTS
ADRIFT / SKYLIN3 / LANDEN
2ND PLACE | THE THREE STOOGES
NIGHT / BLIRRY / DAFFY
VALORANT
VALORANT RECAP
A bit of a chippy rivalry match kicked off in the first round of the Bracket, as the Red Hawks and Mars Hill went back and forth in rounds AND in words. All in good fun, of course, and led to even better times for spectators in attendance and online. This match went to 4 OVERTIMES, before finally Mars Hill managed to ride the momentum of a flawless attack round into the defense side to roll into Round 2.
Meanwhile Converse was rolling on the other side of the bracket with plays like this from Wildfire. A 13-1 win over Team Magic would send Converse to the Finals, awaiting the winner of Esports at NC State and Mars Hill.
Sure, this is a slightly different iteration of the Esports at NC State team that finished runner-up in the Red Bull Campus Clutch Deep South Qualifier a few months back. However, this version arguably has been equally dominant amongst their foes.
Mars Hill wasn't afraid. They ran off to an 11-4 lead having left the Pack scratching their heads. Of course, with the talent Esports at NC State has, they wouldn't go down easy. The Pack banded together to put up 7 straight rounds to tie it at 11 rounds each. That sprint may have burned all of the gas they had in the tank, however. In big upset form, Mars Hill shut down the comeback effort and would advance to the Finals with a 13-11 victory.
Unfortunately for Mars Hill, their impressive road to the title would end just short. There were some moments where MHU would pull within a round of Converse, but Converse was just a bit stronger. They would win both Breeze and Ascent, both by the count of 13-8 to become your 2024 CVCC Campus Series LAN Champions. Congratulations!
VALORANT WINNERS
1ST PLACE | CONVERSE PURPLE
WILDFIRE / ICEE / ARCTIC / BUZZ / PUFFIN
2ND PLACE | MARS HILL UNIVERSITY
THORFINN / SHADOWCASTER / PIXE / ACCITE / GUNNAR
SUPER SMASH BROS. ULTIMATE™
SUPER SMASH BROS. ULTIMATE™ RECAP
Three players stood out among the rest at CVCC 2024. It was emilyy8004 who showed some series improvement and adaptability to playstyles. In the group stage, emilyy went 0-6 in games played against the top two (listed below).
During the bracket in Day 2, it was just a much closer 3-1 loss against SSJpiplup on the upper side of the bracket. Then, when emilyy was forced into a rematch against piplup in the Lower Finals, a nail-biting 3-2 defeat. Emilyy would place 3rd in the bracket, and the improvement in every match was certainly not unnoticed.
SSJpiplup showed a similar level of adaptation throughout the weekend. Having held off a push from emily, and progressed against the weekend's frontrunner and #1 seed, skythepotato (Leo).
Leo went an unbelievable 18-0 in games played during the Group Stage, including a 3-0 win over SSJpiplup, who was otherwise perfect. In the Upper Finals on Sunday, piplup pushed the series to Game 5 before dropping to Leo. Shortly after, in the Grand Final, SSJpiplup would WIN the first series 3-1 to reset the bracket, and came up just short in the final set.
This would crown Leo your Champion of the 2024 CVCC Campus Series LAN for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate™. Congratulations, Leo!
SUPER SMASH BROS. ULTIMATE™ WINNERS
1ST PLACE | LEO
2ND PLACE | SSJPIPLUP
3RD PLACE | EMILYY8004
THANK YOU
We want to thank the students, parents, and college representatives first and foremost for attending and connecting. Huge shout out and thank you to Cody Dalton and the rest of the CVCC Red Hawks Esports team for their assistance before, during, and after the event.
You can check out photos and videos from the event here.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Esports Recruiting Events | For more information on upcoming esports recruiting events for 2024. Ultimate Esports Recruiting Guide | To help accelerate you on your path to playing esports in college.