On Tuesday, May 3 at 8 p.m., the ETSU JV Overwatch esports team will face the University of South Florida in the grand finals of the NACE Starleague Open Division.
NACE is the National Association of Collegiate Esports. They are the largest member association of varsity esports programs at colleges and universities across the U.S. Their Starleague is split in to three divisions: Varsity, Challenger, and Open. In this season, the ETSU JV team participated in the Open division.
The ETSU team is 4-2 (12-8) in the regular season and 4-1 (12-4) in the playoffs so far, for a current season total of 8-3 (24-12). USF is currently undefeated, with a 6-0 (30-0) record in the regular season, and a 3-0 (15-0) record in the postseason; for a 9-0 (45-0) combined total.
“The JV team in particular are very self-motivated,” said ETSU esports head coach Jeff Shell. “Even last night, after practice, I noticed that they were up studying film, talking about what we were going to need to do, for a couple more hours after practice. I see them studying for this game like it’s another final. We’re going to be the better prepared team.”
The JV team will be “looking forward to revenge,” as Shell descrobes. USF is one of the two teams that ETSU lost to in the regular season. The ETSU team has been on a tear against other former losses. Two weeks ago, the team beat the University of North Texas, who was their sole postseason loss. Last week the team beat Navarro College, their other regular season loss. The win over Navarro put ETSU in to the tournament’s grand final match against USF.
The Starleague tournament is a double elimination bracket, which means that after
losing a match, a team will be placed in a second bracket, where they will remain
until they lose a second match. The final match of a double elimination tournament
is played between the winner of the first bracket and the winner of the second bracket.
USF has won the first bracket, and ETSU the second. 
“The nerves are gone,” said Shell. “We’ve had three upset wins in a row; a fourth will be nothing.”
ETSU’s match tomorrow will be played in the esports arena in the Cave at the Culp Center. The match will be projected on the screen at the TVA Credit Union stage and also livestreamed on the ETSU Esports Twitch channel.