Irvine Valley's Esports program is off to a quick start.
Thanks to coach anc coordinator Adam Lopez and the ecosystem that he has creaated along with student leaders at IVC, Laser squads are already competing and beating four-year schools in different tournaments.
Irvine Valley's League of Legends squad took second in the So Cal Snowdown event on Sunday.
Here are the final standings : https://smash.gg/tournament/socal-snowdown-2/event/socal-snowdown-league-of-legends-5v5-tournament-presented-by-corsair/standings
And, the brackets: https://smash.gg/tournament/socal-snowdown-2/event/socal-snowdown-league-of-legends-5v5-tournament-presented-by-corsair/brackets/902240/1440586
Coach Lopez was really proud of his team, and the focus that is growing with the IVC Esports program. Irvine Valley beat the likes of USC and San Jose State.
'It really was a strong showing from the team," he said. "We absolutely stunned the collegiate scene. They had no clue what they were in for.
"Our team was on point and played way beyond any expectations for a new collegiate team. This was a monstrous first tournament.
"For being a team with only two weeks of practice, it says a lot that the students managed to take wins off powerful programs like SJSU, USC, and Cal.
"And, outperformed other strong colleges in the tournament like UC Santa Barbara, CSUN, and SDSU. Our notable wins were against Glendale Community College, USC Trojans (twice), and San Jose State University (twice). We lost to Cal Berkeley in the upper-bracket semi-finals.
"But, we returned from the losers bracket to take Cal down in that final. And, we finally lost in the grand finals to CU Boulders, 2-0, who had a fantastic pick/ban strategy prepared for us. The loss from CU boulders was a great learning experience, and we have our minds set on what we need to do to improve. We are incredibly hungry for even more success."
Starting with a big tournament for League of Legends let Lopez know what is in store going forward for all of his teams. And Irvine Valley has a lot of teams, an ecosystem set in place and spaces for everyone that wants to join and be a part of what could be one of the fastest growing and fun programs not only in California, but the nation.
He sees more and more success for the entire IVC Esports program.
"League of Legends is the pinnacle of esports," Lopez said. "It is widely regarded as the biggest esport in the world. Esports culture has adopted that mentality.
"If your League of Legends team is good, you are therefore a good esports program. These wins were a reflection of our IVC competitors coming together to let their strengths shine and our approach of liberating esports athletes at IVC to be their best."
Lopez wanted to make sure to congratulate the support staff of Coach Andy and Skai.
"They did a fantastic job preparing the pick/bans for the tournament and detailing our strategy to the athletes before the games," Lopez said. "The athletes, including our substitutes all played beautifully. Jaedan was our top laner. The former Woodbridge High school player had a strong showing in the top lane. Especially this moment against Cal Berkeley. Where he takes on a double team and emeges victorious in the skirmish."
"Our jungler, Darken, was an absolute legend, leading the team in strategic macro plays.
"And, our mid-laner Troung " Khepi ", received the votes as the MVP of the tournament. He had a big moment with our support and ADC player at https://clips.twitch.tv/NurturingProductiveHareTheRinger-tlhtKzFzUx7pfX68 doing a calculated team combination " combo " against the bears."
Lopez also wanted to thank Alex "Needmoredetails" for organizing our players and preparing them for the tournament.
More about the IVC esports programs and their upcoming schedule of tournaments and play will be posted soon.
And anyone wanting to learn more about IVC esports and tournaments, the program's discord and twitch streaming, reach out to coach Adam at alopez226@ivc.edu
