St. Louis Shock Win the MLP Mid-Season Tournament in Dominant Fashion
The St. Louis Shock just made history. For the first time in franchise history, the Shock won the Major League Pickleball Mid-Season Tournament, taking home the title in convincing fashion with a three-game sweep over the New Jersey 5s in the finals. It was a statement win at the right moment of the season, and it came with ten standings points attached — points that now matter enormously heading into the final regular season event of the year.
If you follow MLP at all, you know how much the standings race means. Teams are fighting for seeding, playoff positioning, and in some cases, survival. This tournament result didn’t just give the Shock a trophy. It fundamentally reshaped the top of the standings and set up what could be one of the most compelling finishes to a regular season in MLP history.
What Happened in the Finals — Breaking Down the Sweep
The finals played out across three games, and each one told its own story. The Shock went into the match with a clear identity and executed on all three fronts, leaving the 5s without an answer across the board.
The opening game was the one everyone was talking about. Kate Fahey and Anna Bright, the women’s duo for the Shock, were handed an almost impossible assignment on paper: take on Anna Leigh Waters and Jorja Johnson, who came into the match with a 25-0 record in women’s games this season. That number is not a typo. Twenty-five wins, zero losses. Waters and Johnson had been absolutely untouchable throughout the entire MLP season heading into this final.
But Fahey and Bright came in with a game plan. They didn’t try to out-power the most dominant women’s pairing in the league. Instead, according to reporting from The Dink, they executed a deceptively simple strategy centered around limiting Waters’ involvement and controlling the pace of play. Whatever the approach, it worked. They won 11-6, handing Anna Leigh Waters and Jorja Johnson their first women’s loss of the entire season. That result alone would have made this tournament memorable.
Game two wasn’t as dramatic but was equally decisive. Hayden and Gabe stepped on the court for the Shock and handled Noe Khlif and Will Howells with relative ease, winning 11-3. It was a clinical performance that put the Shock one game away from the title.
The third game was more competitive, going back and forth for stretches before Anna Bright and Hayden pulled ahead late to close it out 11-8 against Noe and Anna Leigh. The sweep was complete. The Shock had done it, and in doing so, they sent a message to the rest of the league heading into the playoff stretch.
What This Means for the Standings Race
Here’s where things get really interesting from a competitive standpoint. The Shock earned ten standings points for the win, while the New Jersey 5s earned six for finishing as runners-up. When you add those to each team’s existing totals, both the Shock and the 5s are now sitting at exactly 93 standings points. Dead even. Tied at the top of the MLP standings heading into the final regular season event.
That final event is MLP Orlando, scheduled in three weeks, and it now carries enormous weight. The two teams are in opposite pools, which means they could very likely meet in the Super Sunday championship match, with the number one overall playoff seed on the line. That’s about as dramatic a setup as the sport can produce — two teams who just faced each other in a mid-season final potentially meeting again to decide who enters the playoffs with home court advantage and the best possible seeding. MLP Orlando just became must-watch television.
For Those New to MLP — Here’s What You Need to Know
If you’re newer to professional pickleball and hearing about Major League Pickleball for the first time, here’s the quick breakdown. MLP is the top professional team pickleball league in the United States. Teams are made up of four players — two men and two women — and they compete in a series of individual matches during each event. There’s a men’s doubles game, a women’s doubles game, and two mixed doubles games. The team that wins the most of those individual matches wins the overall team matchup.
The Mid-Season Tournament is a special event held during the regular season where all teams compete in a bracketed format. It matters because the results count toward the overall standings, which determine playoff seeding. Points earned here can be the difference between a top seed and a much harder road through the bracket come playoff time.
Think of it like a team sport where both the individual performances and the team score matter simultaneously. If you’re a tennis fan, the format might feel somewhat familiar, but pickleball matches tend to be faster, louder, and honestly a lot more fun to watch at full pace. Anna Leigh Waters, who featured prominently in this tournament, is arguably the most dominant player in the women’s game right now — which makes it all the more remarkable that she and Jorja Johnson lost in this final.
The Sliders Earn Bronze — and It Could Matter a Lot
Beyond the championship match, another significant storyline emerged from Grand Rapids. The Columbus Sliders finished third, defeating the LA Mad Drops in the bronze medal match and earning four standings points in the process. On the surface, that might not sound like a headline. But when you zoom out and look at the playoff picture, those four points are potentially enormous.
The fourth playoff seed is currently up for grabs between Columbus and Brooklyn. After the tournament, the Sliders edged ahead of the Brooklyn Pickleball Team in points per event — 16.25 to 16. It’s razor thin, but it’s a lead, and it was built on the momentum Columbus has been generating over the last stretch of events.
The Sliders went 3-0 against Utah and Chicago in the early rounds before losing 3-1 to the Fives in the semifinals. They then rebounded in the backdraw, beating the Texas Ranchers 3-1 and the Mad Drops 3-1 to earn that bronze. There’s a real sense of momentum building with this team, and the question now is whether they can sustain it when the playoffs arrive next month.
Two Injuries Cast a Shadow Over the Event
It wouldn’t be a full tournament recap without addressing the unfortunate injury news that came out of Grand Rapids. Two players were hurt during the event, and both situations carry implications for their respective teams going forward.
The first involved Jay Devilliers of the Atlanta Bouncers. During a match against the LA Mad Drops, Jay was attempting to poach at the net when he was struck in the face by teammate Jessie Irvine’s paddle on an overhead. The result was a bloody and painful injury that required multiple stitches near his eye and eyebrow area. According to The Dink, Jay took responsibility for the incident the following day on Instagram, saying he was late on the poach. It was a freak accident, the kind that happens in the heat of competition, and the entire pickleball community rallied around him quickly.
The second injury is potentially more impactful from a team standpoint. Lacy Schneemann of the Orlando Squeeze hurt her ankle badly during a scrimmage. She was spotted on crutches later that same day and in a walking boot the following morning. Schneemann had been playing excellent pickleball alongside Milly this season, and losing her, even temporarily, is a real blow to the Squeeze. The question now is whether Orlando will make a move to bring in another women’s player during the remaining waiver period or before the trade deadline to fill the gap on their roster.
Stock Up, Stock Down — Teams to Watch
A few teams shifted in the standings picture in ways worth paying attention to after Grand Rapids.
On the positive side, the Phoenix Flames had a strong showing despite a shaky start. They dropped their first round match to Atlanta in a DreamBreaker, but then went 2-0 against Las Vegas and Miami before falling narrowly to a red-hot Texas squad in another DreamBreaker, 18-21. The addition of coach Patrick Kawka looks like it’s already paying off, and Phoenix looks like a team hitting its stride at exactly the right time of the season.
The Chicago Slice also showed some life, making it to the quarterfinals with a DreamBreaker win over Brooklyn, 23-21. They also made a move to add Emma Nelson to their roster, which signals that Chicago is actively trying to build something sustainable with young talent. It’s a team worth keeping an eye on as the season wraps up.
On the other side, the Orlando Squeeze are in a tough spot. Playing without Jack Sock this weekend was manageable, but the Lacy Schneemann injury is a real problem. How they respond in the waiver period will say a lot about how seriously they’re approaching the playoff push. The Las Vegas Night Owls also had a down event, losing to both Dallas and Phoenix after their opening win over Australia. The bright spot for Vegas was the pairing of Zoey Wang and Roscoe Bellamy, who went 3-0 in their games with a combined score of 33-11. That’s elite production from two players who can build on it going forward.
The Beer City Open Experience — Why Grand Rapids Matters
It’s worth taking a moment to appreciate the event itself. The Beer City Open in Grand Rapids has built a reputation over the years as one of the best-run and most fan-friendly events on the MLP calendar, and by all accounts this year was no different. The tournament takes over a public park and turns it into a full festival environment, complete with amateur competitions, vendor areas, live concerts, and a pro player’s lounge that’s regarded as one of the best on the circuit.
Andrea Koop and Paul Richards run the event, and the level of organization and attention to detail they bring to it is something other MLP stops could learn from. Amateur brackets run on time, the pro experience is polished, and the general atmosphere feels more like a community celebration of the sport than a standard sporting event. It’s the kind of environment that grows pickleball’s fanbase, and it clearly works.
The regular MLP season continues this week in San Diego, where the standings race will tighten further and the playoff picture will start to come into focus. With the Shock and the 5s locked at 93 points each and Orlando on the horizon as the decisive final event, the back half of this MLP season is shaping up to be genuinely must-watch content for anyone who follows professional pickleball. For more coverage of MLP and the broader pickleball world, The Dink remains the go-to source for news, analysis, and everything happening in the sport.
