REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Esports teams have had a busy schedule with four matches occurring over the last couple of weeks coming from the Overwatch (JV & Varsity), Super Smash Brothers, and Valorant teams. 
 
Valorant (DePaul University; W, 2-0)
The University of Redlands' Valorant team took on the DePaul Valorant Academy earning a clean sweep, 2-0 with the team quickly building themselves into one of the teams to keep an eye on this season with the success they have shown so far.

A lot of this is due to how close they are as a team and how well they work together both in games and outside of the arena. When you watch their games, you can see they have worked hard on communication with each other, but you can also see they have a natural and easy going chemistry between everyone on the team. "We all play together and that helps us get into the game immensely," explained Jackson Schulein (Leonidas0703).  "I was unranked before this because I did not want to have to do placement matches on my own and we started doing that instead of skimming and that really helped the team."

This is one of the teams' many methods of bonding off and on stage. They also hang out on weekends outside of their matches. They are a close-knit group, and it pays off. Jackson himself also is dedicated to keeping them close as a group and keeping the energy high.

"You will see us fist bumping, that is just to keep everyone's spirits up. Even on a bad round I make everyone fist bump. It is just a good way to lift everyone's spirits!"

Their successful season has been amazing to watch as they grow even closer week by week. The games are always fun, upbeat, and a great addition if you want something to go see during the week.

They play every Thursday at 5:30pm at the Esports Center. But you can also check them out on Twitch @redland_esports!

Super Smash Brothers (Oral Roberts University; W, 2-0)
This past Friday the University of Redlands Super Smash Brother's team took on Oral Roberts University taking home a 2-0 victory. They have been growing as a team since the beginning of the 2025-26 school year and one of the ways you can see this is by the new players being up on the stage.

Since one of the players, Jordan Stanford (Magic Turtle) took over the manager position he has been making an effort to get the freshmen and new players on the stage. Wayne Burwick (DryWater06) got to take to the stage this past game and helped assist the team in the win. He is one of the newest additions to the team brought on by Head Coach Jacob Beach.  Due to how new he is, most of this role on the team has been practicing and doing game reps to build his skill and talent.

Playing on the stage can often be a much different experience than playing against your friends in practice but what Wayne had to say about the challenges speaks to his character and excitement too play more. "With today there is quite a bit of lag, but I mean that is kind of it! I hope I am doing well this season, but overall I am feeling pretty good!"

Highlighting one of the biggest learning gaps in online Super Smash Bro's. Due to the nature of the game, playing online often proves to be a challenge with lag spikes and frame delays. But he took it super well and adapted while on stage. "Now that I have played the best game all season, I feel like I am probably going to be put on to the stage more to play, so the more I play the more excited I am about playing in the future."

Not only did the team win this past week, but they also participated in the Coyote Con Games. California State University, San Bernadino hosted this yearly gaming event that both Super Smash Bro's and The Overwatch teams participated in. CSUSB hosts a variety of events including a Super Smash Bros Tournament. Jaeden Sanchez, from the Super Smash Bro team, came in first place in the event out of 48 other players, adding to his already extensive list of wins this season.

After a very successful week for the team, they are getting back to practice in preparation for this week.

Make sure to stop by the Esports Center this Friday at 5:30pm to watch them in action or check out the Twitch Stream at @redlands_esports!

Overwatch – JV (Utah State University; L, 3-0)
The Overwatch JV team suffered their first loss of the spring season this past Wednesday against Utah State University. Coming off a fantastic and tense game last week, the loss struck the players pretty hard. But despite this the team still shines through as with the hard work they put in.

Giving advice and coaching during time outs the team can typically rally each other back up and often do much better afterwards. The team has grown incredibly well since last semester in their ability to communicate what is not working and are flexible when it comes to finding solutions to win.

The team this upcoming week is working on a few things to ensure the next game goes more in their favor, which includes putting an emphasis on positioning and communication clarity. They are confident with a few fixes in how they play, they can pull off some good wins. 

The team displays a great understanding of the game and how they can learn after each match-up. "The opposing team put their characters in better situations to come up with the win, explained Olivia (onikight9)."  "We weren't playing to our strengths as a team or on a character-by-character basis.  We were wasting cooldowns, which gave the enemies easier windows to punish us."

It is this kind of understanding and transparency in where things went wrong that allows them to grow as a team and will ultimately help them get to the finals.

To keep up with their journey to the finals come and watch them play on Wednesdays at 5:30pm in the Esports center or follow them on Twitch @redlands_esports to watch from your dorm!

Overwatch – Varsity (San Jose State; L, 3-0)
The Overwatch varsity team has faced some tough losses so far this season. They are in the process of working on new team comps that help with the flow of the team and have been in a learning curve since then.  But despite this they show up every week to practice and competitions and build on what they know as a team.

They are an incredibly dedicated team to what they are doing and despite a hard season the perseverance shines through. When they play you often can see them come together a lot stronger the longer the game goes on. They become better with their communication, problem solving and building their comps to better fight the enemy teams.

One of their coaches, Sean, points this out after games.  He is newer to the program but has done an amazing job at directing them. He explains a lot of the trouble the team is having is with the recent boom in new characters. They throw a wrench into much of what this team has practiced and is familiar with.

"Something we did not fully address was the release of the new characters and how we are going to add them to our composition," Sean explains. "Recently we have started introducing and working on that." 

As the team works on compositions with the new characters, he expects to see growth within the team as the season progresses.

To see the team compete come watch their games on Wednesday nights at 7:00pm every week in the Esports arena. Or follow them on Twitch @redlands_esports.