MLP Columbus DAY 1
Day 1 Preview
The 2025 Major League Pickleball season opened with a bang in Orlando, with all 16 Premier level teams participating. Just a couple key things carrying over from last week that I’ll be watching.
- Benches: We had our first unavailable starting player in Hunter Johnson for LA, and rather than use their drafted 3rd guy (Wes Burrows) they got AJ Koller from…I don’t know, I guess he was there? What’s the point of this bench folks? I can’t wait to see. EDIT: Again, I can’t find it on the official website, but I’m hearing there will be a penalty for teams that do it this way.
- Serves: I forgot to cover this as a rule change, but I guess the MLP serve rules are drop from shoulder height or lower, low to high motion, and paddle angle has to be at least slightly down if I understand it. So no contact point rules whatsoever, which is the wild west. I’ll be watching how they call it this week. EDIT: Seems like they have a few more rule changes in advance of this weekend. Now the drop has to be top of the hip, and they say the swing has to be MORE South to North than side to side. That sounds to me like you need at least a 45deg angle vs I thought it had to be just under 90deg. I’ll still be waching.
MLP Columbus is going to have a different feel, with only 9 of the 16 teams participating. I’d say it skews towards more of the weaker teams, but that should give them a chance to work things out. With 10 teams making the playoffs, it’s well within reach for any team that can start to gel. Well, except the Hustlers. We are still waiting to see the Hustler womens team get their first point. The St Louis Shock are the class of this event, and honestly I expect them not to lose. Then you have the Orlando Squeeze and the host Columbus Sliders who are very good teams, and should feast on the rest of this field. None of the final six teams have really shown us much this year yet, many only having a few games under their belt. Everyone is interested to see if the star-studded Phoenix Flames can make some magic, and they definitely have potential.
Day 1 Recap
Fun start to the event! Flames split Dreambreakers with McGuffin/Irvine being the MVPs of day 1, pushing to 4-0 on the season. We got to see Liz Truluck and Roscoe Bellamy come off the benches to sub for injured starters which is a great sign. Bellamy also came up huge in mixed to keep Columbus from losing in regulation. And the Shock continue to roll. Can’t wait for tomorrow.
Players going Undefeated:
- Collin Johns 2-0
- Lea Jansen 2-0
- STL Shock (entire team 2-0)
Players going Winless:
- Andre Daescu 0-2
- Tammy Emmrich 0-2
- ATL Bouncers (entire team 2-0)
My Picks!
- Winners: 3-0
- Dreambreakers: 2-1
- Doubles: 8-4
- Grade: B
May 1
2:00 PM
Preview
Okay, pretty even opening match, lots of star power, and a fun mens doubles matchup. The whole question for MLP as a whole is whether or not the Johns brothers feel like giving it their all or not. I think Ben wins his mixed match and Collin loses his, regardless of who they are playing for PHX 3-2 in a Dreambreaker.
- WOMENS: Irvine/Bouchard over Christian/Emmrich: Carolina’s womens team is very weak, could be ugly.
- MENS: Johns/Johns over Sock/McGuffin: I’d love to be wrong here and see these guys gel
- MIXED 1: BJohns/Emmrich over Sock/Bouchard
- MIXED 2: McGuffin/Irvine over CJohns/Christian
Scores/Recap
Okay, firstly Liz Truluck is in for Kaitlyn Christian, which isn’t a massive change. Then gender doubles goes exactly as I predicted, neither very close, but then, McGuffin and Irvine stay super hot and beat Ben in mixed to close it out right? Nope, Collin Johns and Liz Truluck demolish Sock/Bouchard, in a pretty surprising result. Carolina goes up big in the Dreambreaker, but the Flames comes storming back to take it 23-21! That’s a massive win for the Flames against a team they will be battling for a playoff spot.
- WOMENS: PHX wins 11-5
- MENS: CAR wins 11-4
- MIXED: PHX (McGuffin/Irvine) wins 11-8 (BJohns/Emmrich)
- MIXED: CAR (CJohns/Truluck) wins 11-4 (Sock/Bouchard)
- Me? Weird one, score and DB correct, but 2-2 in doubles picks
May 1
4:00 PM
Preview
I’m so excited to see the Shock settle in for a longer event, and face the Atlanta Bouncers. The Bouncers have a ton of potential, I think they sneak into the playoffs, but this one is out of reach. Get used to this conditional prediction for the Shock, they win everything except I’m saying Viv and Jaume get a tight win over Kate and Big H if that’s the matchup, otherwise STL 4-0.
- WOMENS: Bright/Fahey over Glozman/DiMuzio: Hope to see the Bouncers hang around here
- MENS: Patriquin/Tardio over Martinez Vich/Fought
- MIXED 1: Tardio/Bright over Martinez Vich/Glozman
- MIXED 2: Patriquin/Fahey over Fought/DiMuzio
Scores/Recap
Well, the Bouncers women got out to a 5-1(1) lead, but then got blitzed and didn’t score again. I think they can come together as the season goes on and suprise some people. The teens have a scare as Atlanta gets a game point, but the teens close it out 12-10. St Louis went back to the old mixed pairings, and I think will continue to tinker. Mixed has been less consistent with this squad than gender has been. However, today, no problem, the Shock cruise.
- WOMENS: STL wins 11-5
- MENS: STL wins 12-10
- MIXED: STL (Tardio/Fahey) wins 11-6 (Martinez-Vich/Glozman)
- MIXED: STL (Patriquin/Bright) wins 11-5 (Fought/DiMuzio)
- My picks? When the Shock win 4-0, I’ve nailed it
May 1
5:45 PM
Preview
This match is a test for Phoenix, can they get some points against playoff teams like the Sliders? As much as I’m rooting for them, I don’t think so. The womens match isn’t all that close, and some people think Columbus has the best mens teams. I have to go COL 4-0 for my prediction, but hope I’m wrong.
- WOMENS: Todd/Jansen over Irvine/Bouchard: PHX is a big underdog, but this team has a high ceiling, having pickled Orlando’s womens team, they have a shot
- MENS: Daescu/Klinger over Sock/McGuffin: Another fun one, I love watching this PHX mens team, but the big man is too much here
- MIXED 1: Daescu/Todd over McGuffin/Irvine: This was PHX’s best team in Orlando, and didn’t lose, but they will be put to the test
- MIXED 2: Klinger/Jansen over Sock/Bouchard
Scores/Recap
Let’s go Flames! Very weird match, firstly we see the second bench player get in for an injury! Glad to see Roscoe Bellamy, the big man, get in there. The womens match is no big surprise, but then the Phoenix men put an absolute blitz on Bellamy and Daescu. And don’t look now, but McGuffin/Irvine are 4-0 winning 65% of the points, and took out Daescu/Todd though they gave up 7 straight points after getting to 9-1. After a tough outing in mens though, Roscoe Bellamy saves the match to beat the Phoenix tennis stars in emphatic fashion. Dreambreaker goes 21-13
- WOMENS: COL wins 11-3
- MENS: PHX wins 11-4
- MIXED: PHX (McGuffin/Irvine) wins 11-8 (Daescu/Todd)
- MIXED: COL (Bellamy/Jansen) wins 11-3 (Sock/Bouchard)
- Me? Winner correct and 2-2