UAF Esports student comes out on top

woman playing a video game
Screen shot courtesy of Cody Rogers
Shayna "Killpopvixen" Smith, a member of the UAF Esports Club, was on the winning team for a Valorant tournament in early October 2021.

Oct. 13, 2021

UAF Esports Club member Shayna “Killpopvixen” Smith joined a group of other college students in an esports Valorant tournament this past weekend. In a collaboration between TheGameHERS and V1SIONARIES, several Valorant professionals were recruited to draft teams from the college students who signed up to participate. 

“I was pretty nervous at the start, seeing all these high ranked professionals and I’ve played so few ranked games. But I was determined to work with my new teammates and try my best,” Smith said. Smith is a junior in the College of Business and Security Management. 

After several games and hundreds of matches, Smith’s team came out on top and won $3,000.

Valorant is a first-person shooter game with five-person teams using communications, tactics and teamwork to overcome the other team. The grand finals consisted of a best of three games.