NP3 High Esports Returns to Playoffs

By Jack Fedor
Co-Editor | The Pacific Times

NP3 High’s Valorant and Chess team competed in the High School Esports League’s Fall Major playoffs which began on Nov. 28.

Post-game screen of a Nov. 18 NP3 High Valorant match.

The Valorant team qualified following a placing of 20th in the Western United States and the Chess team qualified following a placing of 29th in the United States. The Western United States tournament featured teams from Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

The Chess season began on Sept. 26 followed by the Valorant season on Sept. 28.

The Valorant team following a 6-2 season played their first playoff game in team history. The team played against the 13th ranked Diamond Bar High School from Diamond Bar, California.

During the playoffs the first school to win two Valorant matches moved on to the next round of the playoffs. This is different from the regular season, when schools only had to play one match every round.

Following a 2-2 season start, the Valorant team won the remaining four matches of the season. That’s when the team decided to only play its best members during each match.

”Make sure to win, we need to win this. Y’all gotta put your blood, sweat and tears into this game. Bring back the W,” said team member Jeremy Co, on an online chat following the team’s final regular season game.

Final chess board of a Nov. 18 NP3 High chess game.

The Valorant team fell to Diamond Bar High School, following a close first match which went to overtime.

The Chess team player Alvin Ao finished 5-3. He qualified for his first playoff since the fall of 2021 having missed the spring 2022 playoffs.

Ao played against a 36th ranked Utah Military Academy from Lehi, Utah.

The first chess player to win three matches moved on to the playoff round. Regular season rounds were decided based upon the first player to win two matches.

NP3 High’s chess team fell to Utah Military Academy with three losses. Ao said he thought mistakes during the first match made it difficult to attempt to come back in the series.