KOKOMO, Ind. - The Indiana University Kokomo Esports team began competition in Overwatch Thursday night, as the Cougars played a pair of matches as part of the Overwatch Activation Week for the NECC.

IU Kokomo lost 3-0 to the University of Rio Grande - Black in the opener before returning to the win column with a 3-0 win over the University of North Dakota in the nightcap.

Match One

IUK was matched up against University of Rio Grande - Black in game one, which proved to be tightly-contested. It consisted of the first team to two wins to win the match.   The first win went Rio's way which was a close match between both teams.  URG held strong with great tank play and a genji that dominated the first match.  Into the 2^nd round of the first game, it was a tight battle with IUK squeezing by with a win with great point control and very good ultimate usage.  Game 3 of the first match went back to Rio in another close round with a 2-1 victory in the first game.  

Game 2: Rio Grande switched from a brawl (closer range team) to a Dive (Fast/attack the enemy backlines team).  This switch proved to be critical to Rio Grande's success as IUK did not handle the change well and allowed Rio Grande to take that match with a 3-0 win.  

Game 3: URG stuck with a Dive team composition and again had a lot of success.  At the start of the match, it looked to be anyone's game but with a failed elimination opportunity on Rio's tank, IUK ended up falling badly in a 1-0 loss.  University of Rio Grande - Black beat IU Kokomo 3-0 in the first match of the night.

Match Two

Game 1: The Cougars took control with a 2-0 victory thanks to great play from their entire team as they leaned towards their brawl composition to help propel their team.

Game 2: The Cougars took a page out of URG's book and swapped out their brawl composition for their dive composition.  The team's communication really showed out on this round as Sean [gamer tag JohnLemons], IUK's Tank and the overwatch team's co-captain, helped to coordinate dives (this is where a team jumps a target to quickly eliminate them).  The Cougars steam rolled their competition, until UND put up a huge hold at the very end, but IUK's resilience showed as they outlasted their opponents for their 3^rd point in overtime.  Once sides switched for the next round, UND was able to snag a point but ended up falling short of their second, leading to a 3-1 victory for IUK.

Game 3:  A huge fight back and forth by both teams led to the most competitive game of the set as both team's had good pushes to fight for the win.  With some great plays made by Dylan Keever, one of the starting supports, as well as some great picks by the damage and even strong consistent play by the tank, IUK was able to hold out and seal the 1-0 victory in the last game.

For the latest news, updates, and information on the IU Kokomo Cougars, fans can visit IUKCougars.com. Fans can also stay up to date on the latest Cougar news by following @IUKAthletics on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.