For the second straight week, the New Jersey 5s played the St. Louis Shock on Super Sunday (technically, last week was Super Monday).
Last week, both the 5s and the Shock were probably disappointed with their match, as the winner took home third place. The Shock won in a Dreambreaker, 21-15 last week.
This week in Columbus was a different story. The 5s and Shock both faced off again, but this time for first place. The 5s dominated the Shock from start to finish in the final, beating them 3-0 to cap off an entertaining weekend in Ohio.
Let’s get into all of the action.
Recap of Standings
These are the overall team standings, based on a Points Per Event metric:
MLP Columbus team standings (graphic courtesy of Major League Pickleball):
The 5s Revenge
As mentioned previously, the 5s took care of business in Columbus. In fact, they won all six matches they played in regulation and only lost one game during the event.
On Friday, May 28th, Jorja Johnson and Anna Leigh Waters pickled BOTH their women’s doubles opponents in the Atlanta Bouncers and Miami Pickleball Club.
The 5s men really stepped up - Noe Khlif went 12-0 in games with Will and Anna Leigh, while Will went 10-1 in games with Noe and Jorja.
The most impressive thing about the 5s this weekend? Their ability to win games determined by two points. They had four close games total - two with Noe and ALW and two with Noe and Will. They won all four games. The clutch factor is real in MLP and the 5s proved they have it.
The Hometown Fans Showed up and Showed Out
Having been on-site all week as GM of the Black Bears, I can tell you first hand that the home court advantage was real. The Black Bears played the Sliders on Friday at 2pm, and it was packed and the fans were basically only cheering for the Sliders.
This was also Parris Todd’s debut for the team (suspended for Dallas). There were definitely some kinks to work out as Parris worked her way back in with Danni-Elle Townsend. Parris went 8-4 in her games, losing two mixed and two women’s games. The Sliders ended up third, after beating the Palm Beach Royals, 3-1 on Super Sunday.
Speaking of the Sliders, they made a mid-event trade (or just before the event). Alix Truong, after playing so well in the stead of Parris Todd in Dallas, was moved to the Phoenix Flames. She joins her brother Jonathan there, while Columbus gets back Judit Castillo, a very good doubles player that will play a singles specialist role with the team. Judit flew in the day of the event and had to play a Dreambreaker within about two hours of getting to the venue, beating Aiko Yoshitomo, 3-1 in her first points with Columbus.
The New Teams Showed us a Glimpse of Themselves
Speaking of the Royals, we saw them in action for the first time this week. They got to ease into their MLP debut with some easier competition early, before beating Las Vegas in their last pool play match, winning 21-15 in a Dreambreaker. They then lost 3-1 to the Shock and 3-1 to the Sliders on Super Sunday.
Sofia Sewing impressed in her MLP debut, going 8-2 in her games, going 5-0 with Tyson McGuffin in mixed. The guys struggled, going 1-4 in their games, so that is something they will continue to look at.
The Las Vegas Night Owls also impressed in their debut, earning 10 regular season standings points and a fifth place finish, beating the Atlanta Bouncers 3-1, on Super Sunday. Blaine Hovenier led the team in game wins, going 6-3. Vegas is a team to keep your eye on.
Nico Acevedo played great for Miami, but picked up a little ding toward the end of the event, and didn’t play in his last match. He went 4-4 on the weekend, but showed some flashes. While Miami didn’t earn any points at the event, they had some good women’s wins and showed some promise.
The California Black Bears were led by Sahra Dennehy, in terms of stats, going 4-5 in her games. The biggest game win the Bears had this weekend was when Dennehy and Kunimoto beat Parris and Townsend of the Sliders, 12-10. The other high spot for the team was the last match against Miami, earning the first win and doing so in dominant fashion, winning 4-0.
The Florida Smash debuted and earned four standings points in what many considered an easier pool. The Smash are kind of banking on newcomers Crouch and Weil to get better throughout the year and pick them up, which is definitely reasonable.
Grayson Goldin Back on the Court
I am a sports journalist and solely focus on professional pickleball. But sometimes, there are things that happen that transcend sports. This happened on Saturday, May 30th:
Grayson Goldin suffered a major medical issue a few months back and has been in recovery since. He has been working out the past few months, getting himself back to his athletic abilities. The Palm Beach Royals took him in the draft as a singles specialist knowing he was working his way back to health.
Saturday, Grayson got his shot in a Dreambreaker against the Night Owls and beat Roscoe Bellamy in the first slot, 7-5, helping his team to a 21-15 Dreambreaker win. While that was awesome, the emotion Grayson showed in the post match interview was incredible.
Speaking for the entire pickleball community - we are so happy to have Grayson back in the sport and it is great to see him working his way back to 100% health.
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