Waynesburg, Pa. (February 9) - The esports team closed out their first week of competition with an overall record of 9-7. The Smash Bros, varsity Rocket League, and Rocket League JV teams both went undefeated this week.

The Smash Bros team led by new team captain, Aaron Beard, won both of their first week matches.  The defeated Northeartern 2-1 on Monday (2/2) in an ECAC match. Sophomore Cash Weiczorek came out of the gate strong and helped the team take the first set. They dropped the second set but bounced back quickly winning the third and final set to seal the victory. Freshman Braiden Decker and sophomore Makai'o Nihipali-Sanchez each contributed to the overall victory. The team continued their winning by taking down Augustana in their first NECC match of the season. The Vikings were outmatched from the start of the game and Braiden Decker took several stocks to start the first set. The team quickly ended the first set and went on to close out the second set and take the match without making it to their final player.

The Valorant team split their opening week going 1-1 in matches against Carthage and Tufts. The team was shutout by Carthage 0-2 on Monday (2/2) in their first NECC match of the season. Senior captain Felicia Duffy did everything she could to lead her team to a victory, but luck was on the side of the Firebirds who won the first set 13-4. The Jackets staged a comeback in the second set, but ultimately lost to Carthage 13-8 to seal their opening day loss. The Valorant team evened out their record to 1-1 by picking up a forfeit win on Tuesday (2/3) over Tufts in their first ECAC match of the season.

The Marvel Rivals team also had a split record for week one. They played their first NECC match against Southern Maine on Tuesday (2/3). Playing without star Duelist, Tristan Smith, the team never got a good foothold during the match. They dropped all three games straight to lose 0-3 for the Huskies. On Wednesday (2/3) the team came back from their loss against the squad from Paul Smith's in back and forth ECAC match. Freshman Noah Reed picked up MVP honors in game one racking 28 KO's as Doctor Strange to put the team up 1-0. Reed followed up that game picking up SVP honors but ultimately losing the second set. Sophomore captain Cash Wieczorek claimed MVP rights in the third set and led the team to convincing win to go up 2-1. The Bobcats once again tied up the series 2-2 winning game four this time with Freshman Thomas Martin picking up the SVP with his Jeff the Land Shark healing. The Jackets closed out the match in the firth game once again on the back of Reed who claimed his second MVP of the night.

In Fortnite action on Tuesday (2/3) Freshmen Paul Sembower and Noah Davis teamed up in zero build duos to claim 14 points in the first of seven weeks of battle royale action.

Sophomore Jarvis Thomas played his first NBA2K match on Tuesday falling to a strong player from Cumberland 0-2. Although the games were very close, Thomas was unable to pick up a set win.

The varsity Rocket League team played only one game this week winning their only match against California (PA) 4-0. Sophmore captain Bobby Ballentyne led this team to a clean sweep of the Fighting Scots in under 30 minutes in their first NECC match. Freshmen John Kraynak and Cade Henderson, who both moved up from the JV squad this semester racked up multiple goals and assists adding to the firepower from Ballentyne. 

The JV Rocket League team also went undefeated in week one. Sophomore captain Joel Menear guided his new team to victories over Fanshawe and Southern Arkansas. On Wednesday (2/4) the team beat the Fuel 4-2 for their first NECC win of the season. Freshman Paul Sembower and sophomore Nathan Bauza added high powered offense as a perfect compliment to Menear's strong defensive play. On Thursday (2/5) the team swept the Muleriders from Southern Arkansas 4-0 with a smothering offensive show from Menear, Sembower, and freshman Dayton Reynolds. The JV Rocket League team won the ECAC title last semester and is looking to add more hardware to the trophy case this semester.

Jarvis Thomas picked up a forfeit win from Tallageda in this first Madden match of the spring semester.

For the first time, Overwatch has both a varsity and JV team. The two teams combined for an overall record of 1-2. The varsity team welcomed back grad student and captain Tim Nielsen to the helm. varsity fell short to Molloy University in ECAC. Despite losing 1-3, two of the map losses came down to one team-fight. Waynesburg was the clear underdog in this match but managed to punch up to their opponent. Aaron Beard had 97 assists & 51,000 healing as Support; Noah Westover had 52,000 damage as Tank. In NECC play, varsity Overwatch defeated Wilkes University 3-1, getting revenge after losing 1-3 in the Fall. Jackson Medvec put up 44,000 damage as Damage; Felicia Duffy had 89 assists as Support. The JV squad lost 0-3 to Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. Caitlin Nguyen had 66 assists & 47,000 healing on Support; Logan Brown had 41,000 damage as Tank.

Finally, the esports teams newest squad, Tekken 8, played its first two matches in the ECAC. Freshmen Micah Price and Noah Davis each lost their first match. Davis was swept by his opponent from Mount Aloysius 0-3 and Price lost his match by forfeit.

Overall, it was a strong start to the spring 2026 season with four squads racking up undefeated week and setting themselves up for success.