ECAC Esports announces its Player & Rookie of the Week Awards for week 5 & 6 of competition presented by HyperX.
Overwatch Player of the Week
Grand Valley State University, Andreas “AndreYES” Martinez, 2024, Main Support
Andreas continues to be a pivotal piece of GVSU’s Lakeshore Blue Overwatch Team. Coming onto the scene last semester playing DPS for the team, Andreas has shown his true colors shine with his transition to Main Support this season. Week after week, Andreas shows us how he can keep his team in the fight and set up massive, gaming-winning plays. His prowess on Baptise and Ana is why Andreas is truly a star on GVSU Lakeshore Blue.
Overwatch Rookie of the Week
Grand Valley State University, Derek “Inkz” Jakielek, 2022, DPS
Rookie to ECAC, but long-time Overwatch enthusiast and Veteran Derek, aka Inkz, is a menace to his damage heroes. Derek has shown consistent play-making skills in the ECAC, enabling his team to dominate the competition. His flexibility on the DPS line and valuable insights are critical ingredients for the GVSU Lakeshore’s Blue’s smashing success in ECAC thus far. We eagerly await more greatness from Derek in the coming weeks!
Valorant Player of the Week
Stockton University, Kaylee” star shopping” Dynda, Senior, Smokes
Kaylee helped to clutch up the last overtime round in Game 1 of Stockton University’s weekly ECAC match. On agent Brimstone she was able to get a pick on the enemy team and defuse spike in a 2 v 2 situation with a fellow teammate. On average Kaylee has a 1.10 K/D ratio and an 80% winrate in her competitive Valorant games. She is a vital part of the team as a player and helps to keep mentals good while in our competitive ECAC matches.
Rocket League Player of the Week
Post University, Anon “Anonimal” Rowland, Sophomore
Anon was a rock for the Eagles in their week 5 sweep over Bethel. Crisp rotations, positive comms, and accurate shots were abundant from Anon as he posted a combined scoreline of 1,115 points, 4 goals, 3 assists, and 3 saves over the 3-game series.
Smash Player of the Week
Post University, Hailey “RandomEevee” Aeppli, Freshman, Inkling
The Eagle’s up and coming Inkling main has improved drastically since her rookie season last fall, learning, practicing and then implementing tech such as Inkling’s up throw into up air combo, roller into F smash, as well as getting much more comfortable going off stage for edge-guards. Her practice paid off as she took 3 stocks against Catawba in week 5 – a new career high for her.
FIFA Player of the Week
Lycoming College, Austin “Frére Saka” Craig, Sophomore
Entering the week at 3-1, Austin was eager to continue the hot streak. This would be evident by jumping straight to a 7-0 lead by halftime of game 1, in which he would never look back. Game 1 was closed out with a 10-3 victory with Mbappé contributing 5 goals in the match. Game 2 his opponent made some necessary adjustments to begin the game with a 1-0 lead. However, this would be enough of a scare for Austin as he jumped back into the driver’s seat, controlling the pace of the game and finishing the game on a 10-0 run, ending in 10-1 victory and 2-0 sweep in the match with an overall score of 20-4.
Madden Player of the Week
Cumberland University, Jaylen “MustbJT13” Taylor. Junior
Jaylen Taylor caps another 2-0 victory against Long Island University. In game one Taylor was able to secure game one with a 42-15 victory! Taylor was able to force 7 takeaways in the game. Going into game two, Taylor’s defense was able to find 4 interceptions in the first quarter to help him take a quick 21-0 lead. Taylor continued to be dominant on defense by capturing another 3 interceptions to take game two with a 30-6 victory. Taking the series, 2-0.
League Player of the Week
Stockton University, Dylan”ITHINKIMDYLAN” Nhan. Freshman, Midlaner
Dylan is one of the players that gives Stockton’s JV team its identity. By making his presence known throughout his first couple matches, he has been the target of most bans from his opponents. In the 4th week in the first game against University at Albany 2, Dylan was able to get his comfort pick Ahri. He proceeded to get two mid lane towers before 15 minutes and ended the game with a victory and a K/D/A of 14/2/3, 7cs per minute, 61% kill participation. In game 2 he chose Anivia to help support and enable his top laner’s Yasuo, but still managed to force two flashes from the enemy with an early invade which gave enough of a lead to secure the victory for game 2.
Halo Player of the Week
Post University, Anthony “Permish” Maine, Junior
Permish led the charge for the Eagles against Muskingum in the week 5 series that ended after 4 maps. Permish topped the leaderboard in every map that was completed with 74 kills over the first three maps and a flag capture on the 4th map.