Cottey esports takes on Florida State, York University

The Cottey College esports team was one of 128 squads from all over North America to open National Association of Collegiate Esports tournament qualifier play this month — with the Comets drawing some of the toughest competition of the bunch, including an NCAA Div. I opponent.

Cottey opened its first qualifier playing the first-person shooter Valorant against no. 4 seed York University out of Toronto — which advanced after beating the Comets 13-1, 13-0.

"Incredibly proud with the way our team competed," Cottey head coach Dominic Habjan stated. "With a ranking disparity that large, we were very happy with our performance, which happened to be better than many teams seeded higher than us."

The Comets had their work cut out for them in the second qualifier, as well, when they faced one of Florida State University's multiple teams (this one, Gold, was seeded no. 51). The Seminoles moved on with a 13-2, 13-0 victory.

Cottey will begin NACE league play for Overwatch (another FPS) on Oct. 4 (matchup TBD), followed by group play in the Valorant Super Mega Bowl against Minnesota State-Mankato on Oct. 7. The matches will be streamed at twitch.com/cotteyesports.