ANNVILLE, Pa. – After a strong fall season that ended with three championships, LVC Esports is back this spring looking for more. Each week we will post a new report that will recap all the action for each team. This week featured roster announcements and opening activation matches for most of our teams. We also saw some local competition in the Appalachian Conference.

Rocket League—Rocket League will once again field three teams this semester but for the sake of this report, we'll stick to covering the varsity roster. After bringing home divisional titles in NECC and NACE play last semester, the roster saw the return of Mason "Magarz" Garza '23 to the starting lineup, replacing Samuel "Samis" Rothenstien '25. Tyler "Frencheii" Franquet '24  and Dylan "Faithful" Lower '23 retain their roster spots from the fall. They began their spring campaign with their fourth match within the Appalachian Conference facing a familiar rival in Hood College. This series was all LVC though as all three players had big nights in the 3-1 victory totaling 15 goals on a massive 44 total shots. This win keeps them in first place in the conference at 4-0, one game ahead of Arcadia University and Alvernia University. The team would then face University of Illinois Springfield in their first NECC activation match of the semester. LVC would dominate in this series in a 3-0 victory over the Prairie Stars putting 16 goals into the back of the net. The team will look to go 3-0 in activation next week against opponents that have not yet been determined. 

Valorant— The LVC Valorant team has decided to run it back after taking the NECC Challengers Gulf Coast division in the fall. The roster once again includes Robbie "Zariiio" Bonnacai '23, Andrew "Juice" Houck '26, Jon "Jonkook" Lam '23, Alex "Sarrdog" Sarris '24, and Ardit "CRISPR" Sekiraqa '24. The team had three match days this week starting with a matchup in the College Valorant group stage against University of Mary Washington on Saturday January 21. The roster managed to start off the season strong with a clean 2-0 over UMW. This led into Monday night where they would begin their title defense in NECC with two activation matches. The first of the two would come against Concord University where a strong first half for the Mountain Lions would fend off an LVC comeback to take the best of one and hand LVC their first loss of the season. The Dutchmen would take on Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University immediately following the match against Concord. This would be another tough matchup for the Dutchman as they would fall in this best of one as well and finish 0-2 for the week in activation. They would close off their week in Appalachian Conference play against Hood. The Blazers weren't able to get anything going as the Dutchman cruised to a 2-0 victory with a 13-1 map 1 win followed by a 13-4 win to close out the series. Valorant will see two more activation matches on Monday night with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Red at 8 p.m. and Kennesaw State University Black at 9:15 p.m.

Rainbow Six— Following the departure of three players over the break, Rainbow Six needed to find a new fifth player to compete. They found this in Andrew "Reliable" Seneca '24 who would join the team of Michael "Plexios" Schneider '26, Brant "Empor1um" Barr '26, Jack "TheSenate" Moskowitz '24, and David "MrDavisTV" Palmer '25. They would be without Palmer in their first set of activation matches on Tuesday though, requiring the services of substitute Harold "Wizard" Bowman '24. They would face familiar foes in Arcadia University in their first matchup where they would fall in a contested 7-5 map on Border. They then took on Central Methodist University where they would once again fall 7-5, this time on Oregon. The team will look forward to their next set of activation matches on Tuesday with opponents yet to be determined.

Overwatch— After a strong fall semester, the Overwatch team has retained four of their five players. This roster features Benjamin "Lotad" McDonnell '24, Colin "Grok" Brophy '23, Grayson 'Thebossbaby" Rule '23, Cooper "BooperXD" Vohs '23, alongside new addition Brooke "AZMoon" Showalter '24. The team had one match this week for the Appalachian Conference, meeting with Hood College on Wednesday night. LVC coasted to victory in a 3-0 fashion where McDonnell didn't fall a single time throughout the series. The roster will be off next week with their first match of the NACE season taking place on Tuesday February 7.

Call of Duty— Finally, we come to Call of Duty. The roster remains the same from last semester with Andrew "Tenacious" Kierce '23, Ethan "Dunder" Filbert '23, Peter "Spicy" Campagna '23, and Riley "Chippy" Johnson '24. The team played in their first matches on Saturday in the College Call of Duty League (CCL) qualifiers. They were placed in the Northeast Division, needing to win three matches before losing two. They started with a matchup against Baldwin Wallace College and the Dutchmen would prove to be too much for the Yellow Jackets as they squeaked by for a 3-0 victory. They won the hardpoint 250-235, the SND 6-4, and the control in the sweep. They then faced the University at Albany who were given a bye in the first round. This series would go all the way to map 5 with both teams trading blows in the maps. The fifth map would come all the way down to the final round (round 11) where LVC managed to escape with the win which put them in the qualifying round. The next matchup would take place against Iona College and would prove to be all LVC as they cruised to a 3-0 in convincing fashion. The team has qualified for Division 1 play in the CCL and will begin matches on February 13. They will also be playing in the NACE Starleague this semester in the varsity plus conference with matches there starting February 8. 

Be sure to follow us on Twitter (@lvc_esports) and Instagram (@lvc_esports) for future updates on our matches along with our twitch channels twitch.tv/lebanonvalleycollege and twitch.tv/lvcesports when matches overlap. If you would like to get involved with the program, message our head coach Eilliot Kleckner on discord (hockeyman23#2541). We look forward to the next week of matches along with what this semester holds for the program!