FRESNO, Calif. - The Fresno Pacific Esports team punched its ticket to playoffs with insane upsets, forfeits, and countless victories across the board.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: (2-0)
The Sunbirds caused a major upset this week against previously undefeated University of Alaska Fairbanks. The 'Birds went into the match expecting to get swept and wanted to just have fun in this last game of regular season play. They were right about a sweep, just not the results! Shadowman (Chris Clark) started off the first set for the Sunbirds on Pit going toe-toe with UAF's Gatts on Joker. The starters were evenly matched, but some unfortunate self-destructs gave an early lead to UAF. The 'Birds unleashed Forsaur (Forest Gray) on a nine-stock streak leaving Sososa (Sam Ramos) to finish UAF's captain Tvvitch64. Airvaulter (Jackson Paramo) started off the second set against the Sunbirds in an unfavorable matchup against UAF's Radjuice on Lucas.
Shadowman came in and made up the lost stocks in a rematch against Gatts. In some of the best gameplay of his career, Shadowman came out on top! UAF's Ribbon on Isabelle gave Forsaur a little more trouble than the first set, knocking him down two stocks before he pulled ahead. Forsaur was stopped by captain Tvvitch64 after losing only one stock putting pressure on FPU's Sososa to wrap up the set. Sososa took the stage with confidence and won the match for a total score of 12-10. Controllers were sweaty and spirits were high as the Sunbirds took the top seed down a notch showing that they have what it takes to take it all in playoffs.
Marvel Rivals: (3-FF)
Marvel Rivals ended on a high note with their opponents, University of North Texas at Dallas, forfeiting out of the season. The team ended their season 2-4 earning them fifth in conference. It wasn't quite enough to make playoffs this season but the team had significant improvement from the Fall.
"We look forward to what is in store for this team in the future!" mentioned Esports director Chris Carlson.
Rocket League: Orange (4-FF), Blue (1-4)
The Sunbirds Orange team came ready to play a competitive match against Montana University's Griz Maroon. Scheduling conflict/no-show led to Montana forfeiting the match giving the Sunbirds a win for the last game of the season. This bumped the Birds up to the second seed in conference and secured their spot in playoffs.
FPU Blue seemed to be in a similar position in their match vs. USC receiving no contact until after time passed for game one to be forfeit to the Sunbirds. The Trojans might have been late but they came to play quickly sweeping the Birds in four sets. FPU Blue ended their season with the match going to a tough (0-7). While demoralizing for the players, the FPU Blue team plans to start fresh in the Fall 2026 season.
Overwatch 2: (0-3), (3-2)
The Sunbirds Overwatch team came into this week locked into a position in playoffs regardless of the outcome of the two matches this week. Perhaps a little more pressure would have been helpful in their first match against Arkansas State University's Trailblazers Green. The Trailblazers were tied for the top spot in the conference and showed the 'Birds why in a clean 0-3 sweep. Fresno Pacific fought hard, taking a few points each game but were unfortunately outmatched.
Going into their second game of the week and last match of the season, Bethany College gave the 'Birds a fresh start. Playing Control on Lijiang, FPU was able to score (2-0) taking the set thanks to fxndii (Justin Ferrer) on tank. Downtownbrown (Kyler Brown) was freed up to play DPS alongside Lil Neptune (Jacob Sanchez) with both players getting 22 eliminations the first set.
The Swedes chose Escort on Gibralter as the next set and gave the 'Birds a rough time with some great D.Va gameplay by Bethany's RICO. FPU's backline was constantly dived and the Sunbirds were unable to respond, allowing the Swedes to take set two (1-0). FPU responded with Flashpoint on New Junk City in the hopes of a more mobile game style would prevent any of the previous match's issues. Despite Downtownbrown swapping Sigma on tank, the outcome of game three looked promising. The 'Birds captured the first two zones and looked ready to take the match, but were unable to hold the lead with Bethany's Skord going 35 eliminations, closing game three (2-3).
With the pressure on, the Sunbirds entered set four down, but definitely not out. Both teams moved the payload to the end taking the set to a tie breaker with a minute each to see who could capture the payload and get the farthest. The Sunbirds were up first on the attack and were able to secure the point and push the payload up the castle thanks to pressure from Downtownbrown on Reinhardt swinging that hammer. FPU mounted a solid defense and stopped Bethany's advances in their tracks securing game four (4-3). Taking the series into a fifth and final game. Playing Push on Esperanca, the 'Birds pushed bot almost to the Swede's spawn in the first push of the map, putting the pressure on Bethany to take control. The Swedes stepped up and had a solid push just meters short of FPU before the 'Birds took back control and held the robot in no man's land winning the game in an evenly matched and well-fought series.
With this win, the 'Birds finished third in their conference and will go against a tough second seed in the playoffs next week to stay alive.
Follow along with the Fresno Pacific Esports Team on socials: @sunbirdsesports and watch live on Twitch at twitch.tv/esportsfpu.
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