By: Kellen Gormley
Mines Club Esports had a packed week of competition across several titles, with teams competing in Rocket League, Valorant, League of Legends, and Rainbow Six Siege matchups against universities across North America. The week featured several challenging contests as well as key victories for the Orediggers.
Rocket League Varsity
The Mines Rocket League varsity squad faced a pair of tough matchups during the week.
On March 4, Mines fell 0–3 to Kansas State University in a conference matchup. Despite strong efforts throughout the series, Kansas State maintained control and secured the sweep.
The following night, March 5, the Orediggers returned to competition against George Fox University. Mines again battled hard but ultimately dropped the series 0–3.
Valorant Varsity
The Mines Valorant varsity team took on University of Alberta on March 5. Alberta proved to be a strong opponent, defeating the Orediggers 2–0 in the series. Mines continued to look for improvements and adjustments as the season progresses.
League of Legends Varsity
Mines League of Legends varsity competed against Lewis University on March 2. Lewis controlled both games of the series, earning a 2–0 win over the Orediggers.
League of Legends Challenger
The Mines League Challenger team delivered one of the strongest performances of the week, sweeping Simpson University 2–0.
Game one was the team's most dominant showing of the season so far. Mines controlled all three lanes and every major objective throughout the match. napa1m (Mason) led the charge with an outstanding performance on Xerath, finishing an undefeated 16–0 in kills-to-deaths. Strong contributions also came from Springsteentheboss (AJ) on Shen in the jungle with a 6–0 K/D, and RiceLover (Zain) in the top lane with a 9–2 performance on Kennen. Mines finished the match with a commanding 35–4 team kill differential.
Game two proved more competitive early on. Mines struggled initially due to difficult lane matchups and fell behind after conceding early objectives and the first three dragons. However, a key fight after a dragon secured critical shutdown gold onto DemoPls (Ryder) on Vayne. With the added advantage and strong support from GrnKrin (Keagan) on Taric, Mines regained control. Ryder's Vayne took over the late game, finishing 14–1 and leading the team to a decisive victory to close the series.
Rainbow Six Siege Varsity
Mines' Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege varsity team earned an impressive 2–0 win over the University of Florida on March 3.
The first map, Chalet, went to overtime before Mines secured an 8–6 victory. The Orediggers followed that performance with a 7–4 win on Clubhouse to complete the sweep. With the result, Mines improved to 3–2 on the season, including a previously recorded forfeit win over University of Akron.
Valorant JV
The Mines Valorant junior varsity team closed out the week with a strong performance, defeating Stephen F. Austin State University 2–0 on March 5.
