The New Jersey 5s Win The Regular Season Title In Mlp's Most Exciting Weekend Ever
The New Jersey Fives clinched the #1 overall seed in the playoffs with a win over the St. Louis Shock on Super Sunday, live on FS1.
In what many are describing as the best weekend of MLP pickleball ever, there was so much on the line throughout the event. This was the first time the Orlando Squeeze hosted the MLP Orlando event at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports complex, at the State Farm Fieldhouse.
Twelve teams were on-site for the action, and at the beginning of the event, all teams still had a mathematical chance of making the playoffs. However, the 5s and Shock had their sights set on more than juust the playoffs - they both wanted the #1 overall seed in addition to the first round bye they had already secured.
The 5s and Shock both went 5-0 in pool play, securing the event’s #1 seed, headed into Super Sunday. The 5s recently acquired Federico Staksrud and he entered the lineup in both men’s doubles and mixed doubles immediately. They experimented with lineups a bit, but it seems like it is going to be Fed and Will Howells in mens, and Fed with Jorja Johnson in mixed.
The intensity was the highest I have seen all season for the Super Sunday final on FS1 at noon. The #1 seed carries extreme weight to it - first round bye, and choice of opponents in both the quarterfinals and semifinals of the playoffs, along with home court advantage in the first two matches of each playoff matchup.
In their last meeting at the Mid-Season Tournament finals, the Shock swept New Jersey, 3-0. Kate Fahey and Anna Bright handed Jorja Johnson and Anna Leigh Waters their only loss on the year, 11-6.
I had a feeling Anna Leigh and Jorja would come back with a vengeance in Orlando. And did they ever. Off to a hot start, Jorja and Anna Leigh beat Kate and Anna 11-5. In men’s doubles, Federico and Will could not solve the puzzle of Hayden Patriquin and Gabe Tardio, losing 5-11. Gabe and Hayden end the regular season at 28-4, the most dominant men’s doubles pairing this year, by far.
The mixed #1 game was the game to watch if you only have 30 minutes to watch one game from the weekend. Anna Leigh and Noe Khlif defeated Anna Bright and Hayden Patriquin, 15-13 in an epic battle that seemed to go on forever. Hayden was celebrating and dancing after winning a point off a net cord, the crowd was going wild, and the competition could not have been tighter in this game.
Up 2-1 in the final match, the Fives played Fed and Jorja vs. Kate and Gabe. Fed and Jorja were just too much and Kate and Gabe seemed a bit off. Fed and Jorja won 11-2 in the last mixed match, securing the victory for the 5s. They will be very happy with the #1 seed headed into the playoffs.
Other Top Storylines
The Chicago Slice and Elsie Hendershot jump into the playoffs
The Chicago Slice had their backs against the wall headed into MLP Orlando. They were at 27 points, needing to beat the California Black Bears in group play and probably win their Super Sunday match in order to have a chance at the playoffs.
The Slice nearly punched their ticket earlier than that though, taking the Palm Beach Royals to a Dreambreaker. If they beat the Royals in that match, they would have been assured a playoff spot. Instead, they were up 18-10 at one point, and ended up losing 20-22.
The last playoff spot came down to Saturday and Sunday for the Slice. On Saturday, their match against the California Black Bears was moved to Championship Court because it was basically a “winner goes to the playoffs and loser goes home” match.
The Black Bears came out hot and with all the momentum winning gender doubles 11-6, 11-8, headed into mixed. The Slice came roaring back, winning mixed 11-4, 11-7.
Fittingly, the match went to a Dreambreaker. The Black Bears had three match points on their paddle in the Dreambreaker, but each of the Slice players fought it off. At 23-22, Elsie Hendershot earned the sideout and then scored the next two points, earning the win for the Slice. She came off the court to some of the loudest cheers from a crowd I have ever personally heard and with tears of joy in her eyes.
The job was not done, though. The pickleball nerds realized that if Chicago lost on Sunday to Miami, and earned four points, the Slice and Black Bears would be tied, and the Black Bears actually had the tiebreaker, in match win percentage.
On Sunday, against Miami the Slice flipped the script and started hot in gender doubles, winning both. They then lost momentum and lost both mixed doubles games, forcing ANOTHER Dreambreaker. The Slice won 21-15 on the back of John Lucian Goins, and they earned a spot in the playoffs in Dallas next week.
The Las Vegas Night Owls also secured a playoff spot
The Night Owls didn’t have a great MLP Chicago, finishing fourth in their pool and losing in the #4 v #4 matchup, only earning four points from the event. They started the MLP Orlando event with 26 points, four behind the Black Bears for the last playoff spot.
In their first match of the event, they beat the Phoenix Flames 21-17 in a Dreambreaker. The Night Owls then beat the Orlando Squeeze 4-0, and then took on a depleted Brooklyn Pickleball Team. They went to a Dreambreaker, where Las Vegas pulled it out, with their guys (Gabe and Roscoe) going a combined 12-9 against Haworth and Alshon.
Despite losing the next two pool play matches against Miami and St. Louis 1-3, the Night Owls secured third place in their pool. Even though they lost to the Palm Beach Royals in the 3v3 matchup on Sunday, the Night Owls secured eight standings points, and they got into the playoffs, leapfrogging the Black Bears and the Slice for the #11 seed.
The new court platform for roll out courts was a huge success
This wasn’t a huge headline for the fareweather fans of MLP, but it was a huge storyline for the players. Many venues this year required roll out courts for MLP for one reason or another. We saw several places with real dead spots on the court due to inconsistencies, power boxes, etc.
This new court sub-surface was on Championship Court and played phenomenally. The bounce is not as high as a permanent court, but every player I talked to said it was the truest bounce they had seen on a roll out court. I would assume MLP will purchase another one of these sub-surfaces for next year so both courts have the same bounce.
This is a huge win for the play of the game in MLP.
MLP Orlando final standings
Final regular season standings
Playoff matchups should be announced on Monday and I will have a full preview with in-depth analysis of the first round matchups on Wednesday.
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