Uruguay native and first-year Ysaiah Arezzo said her passion for the video game “Valorant” inspired her to pursue her studies at Keene State College.
“I have played ‘Valorant’ for three years now and I think it’s a game I really love,” Arezzo said. “When I found out that we have an esports team here with “Valorant” I was like, ‘I want to go.’”
Esports Head Coach Noah Drouin said Arezzo brings a positive attitude and strong mentality to the team.
“If you see her competing, practicing just with the team, she is so unbelievably humbled and excited to be in the facility,” Drouin said. “She is so eager to improve and be the best that she can be so I would really describe her as just a driving force on the mental side of things … The mental piece is sometimes half the battle and having a good attitude, being willing to improve, learning from mistakes, she really helps balance out the team.”
According to Drouin, Arezzo began the esports team’s first game this season with a memorable contribution skill-wise.
“[Arezzo] had a couple of really standout plays during that game in which she set the team up for a victory, she got the final kill in the entire game to win us the game,” Drouin said. “She got two kills and defused the bomb, which is the main objective in Valorant, so she made an immediate impact, in the game as well as from a team composition standpoint in terms of the personalities and so forth.”
Sophomore and “Valorant” teammate Hailey Michaud said Arezzo makes the team stronger.
“Her role on the team right now is a sentinel [defense] so she is very good at blocking down a site, so for gameplay she can hold her own for sure,” Michaud said. “Off the team, she’s a very positive person… we get to see a lot of perspective especially with her being an international student.”
Being an international student, one of Arezzo’s main challenges has been the language barrier, however, she does not let it stop her from competing.
“I don’t like the language barrier, sometimes it’s rough,” Arezzo mentioned. “My English was the most challenging but people [being] like, ‘Can you repeat?’ or, ‘Can you say it again?’ are helping me a lot. So I feel welcome and [it’s] not like I don’t know what to say.”
Regarding her goals as a “Valorant” player, Arezzo said, “I want to improve my gaming skills … I want to make more friends here in esports as well, they are all very great.”
Drouin said from the moment he met Arezzo, he felt a sense of genuineness.
“I saw her pull up [to move-in day] … I instantly went up to her and introduced myself and it was just really great and it was very exciting for me as a coach to be like, ‘Yup, you’re real and you’re this person,’” Drouin said. “I was so excited to bring her on and her demeanor and everything matched exactly what I assumed she would be like when we were talking during the recruitment process.”
Drouin added, “Having her come to Keene State College and also being on the ‘Valorant’ team [is] worth all the time of us working together to get to that point.”
Nicole Dumont can be contacted at
ndumont@kscequinox.com
