Sangamon Sun

The Illinois College Esports team experienced setbacks in two UCL playoff matches for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (SSBU) and Valorant on Friday night. In the SSBU match, Illinois College faced Mount Saint Mary's University (MSMU), resulting in an 8-0 loss. This was the first encounter between the two teams this season after MSMU had previously forfeited a regular-season match to Illinois College.

Matt Hallanger and Julian Luaders were initially defeated by MSMU's R.O.B player, but Jake Petrovich managed to secure a win against him before being defeated by EnhancedPV, one of the top Cloud players globally. The defeat placed Illinois College fourth in the MEC (UCL) SSBU season standings, with hopes of improvement in the spring season.

In their second match of the night, Illinois College faced Glenville State in Valorant but lost 2-0. Despite having beaten Glenville State three times during the regular season, they could not advance to the finals after a close contest. Dwight Duijneveld led his team with 65 kills and a KDA of 2.77, but it wasn't enough to overcome Glenville State's strong performance.

This result left Illinois College with a third-place finish for the MEC (UCL) Valorant season as they prepare for their upcoming MVEC season starting in January.

The Valorant team is now on break until January when their MVEC season begins. Meanwhile, the SSBU team has one remaining regular-season MVEC match against Wartburg College scheduled for Monday, November 11th at 7:00 pm.