The University of Mary Washington's new Esports Program ended its Spring 2023 season and the inaugural year of competition with a big win. The Valorant team, led by captain Jack Collier, defeated Mount Vernon Nazarene University in a reverse comeback 3-2 sweep to claim the program's first-ever trophy.

In the Fall the Valorant team had made it to their conference Grand Finals Match, but unfortunately fell to Brooklyn College. "It was a matter of pressure conditioning" Director Mark Link stated, "the team had never been in such high stakes before and were determined to come back swinging in Spring after the loss".

After another dominant regular season, going 8-1 before playoffs, the team stayed laser-focused on their goal of winning the trophy. Once making it to Grand Finals however the matches were neck and neck, with UMW being down 0-2 going into Game 3 in the best-of-five situation. Game 3 saw dominant performances from Brandon Howar and Zander Loy, determined to keep the dream alive going into Game 4.

That's when recently transferred Tylor Cribbs took over, impacting round after round, even in one versus four situations. Tylor, armed with good supportive play from Kolby Simpson, was able to lock away Game 4, pushing the match to be all tied up 2-2 going into Game 5. With the stakes higher than ever, the team locked in and won securing their title as the NECC Challenger Mideast Division.

"I was super proud of the team," Mark said, "the mental fortitude required to come back from that deficit shows the level of maturity and teamwork they have forged together". The Esports Program will receive the trophy sometime in Fall 2023 and will be hosting an Event celebrating its display within the Esports Arena. The program will enter its second year of competition this upcoming Fall with the addition of two new teams to its roster and is looking forward to resuming competition.