WESTERVILLE, Ohio -- Otterbein Esports kicked off its Fall 2026 campaign with a strong Week 1 showing, posting multiple wins across Overwatch 2, Valorant, and Rainbow Six Siege competitions. They finished their first week of competition 7-2 within the program. 

Overwatch 2 Otterbein opened NACE with a 3-1 victory over the University of Houston-Downtown. The Cardinals established control through powerful front-line play led by sophomore Joe Dillon (vizzsy) on DPS alongside sophomore Santi Camacho (gametr) on Tank.

The Cardinals posted a clean 2-0 sweep in Valorant against Florida Tech Academy in NACE on Wednesday. Map 1 (Split, 13-3): Freshman captain Izzy Snobeck (Buttercup) set the tone on Raze with a dominant 23/9/3 performance (385 ACS). Map 2 (Sunset, 13-10): Sophomore Landon Chalfant (nastee) delivered a team-high 28 kills on Yoru (354 ACS), complemented by Snobeck adding 24 kills and 8 First Bloods.

The R6 squad put together a dominant 5-1 placement week across two slates of Midwest R6 qualifiers action. In Thursday's 7-5 win against the University of Iowa, sophomore Ben Ronk (nebski) anchored the victory with 14 kills (5,590 score), supported by Troy Jackson (Polamalu) (10/9/1). Otterbein went on to defeat Ohio University 7-3. Chalfant led with 13 kills, while Polamalu and Ronk recorded 11 kills apiece. The Cardinals earned another 7-3 win, this one over Minnesota State University.

Back in action on Saturday, Otterbein defeated the University of Iowa JV team by a 7-1 margin, before also earning a 7-1 win over The University of Olivet. In their final matchup of the week, the Cardinals fell 7-4 to Central Michigan University. 

In NACE play of Super Smash Bros. on Thursday, the Cardinals suffered a 2-0 setback against Winthrop University-Garnet.

Otterbein will continue its fall campaign this week, the second week of competition.