The Columbus Sliders are the 2025 Major League Pickleball Champions
Despite facing long odds headed into the playoffs, the Columbus Sliders have taken home the 2025 Major League Pickleball (MLP) Championship, completing their Cinderalla story.
The Sliders were underdogs in their three playoff matchups, but were able to rise above in the end. Led by Andrei Daescu, the Sliders played the best pickleball of the year at the exact right time of the year.
Each team member contributed at different times throughout the last two weekends, showing how teammates pick each other up.
Rather than the usual “top storylines”, instead, I am going to recap each of the four series during the weekend.
Let’s get into the action.
The “Cinderalla Sliders” Take Home the Title - Columbus Sliders Beat the New Jersey Fives
The Columbus Sliders beat the #1, #2, and then the #3 seeds, in order to earn the Premier Level Championship in 2025.
Below, I discuss the semifinal round (I wanted the good stuff first).
In the finals, things got off to a hot start on Saturday, in the Noon ET TV block on CBS. The Fives women dominated, the Sliders men dominated, and then Noe/Meghan won, and Andrei/Parris beat ALW/Howells, forcing the DreamBreaker.
Howells and Dizon carried the Fives in the Dreambreaker, going 8-4 and 5-3, respectively. Parris neutralized Anna Leigh, going 4-4. The final score was 21-17.
In match #2, the same exact results prevailed in doubles, forcing the DreamBreaker, again. This time, the Sliders were able to win, 21-15, forcing the deciding match #3.
Dreambreaker results from Match #2:
In match #3, the Sliders changed the paradigm. At first, it looked destined for another DreamBreaker. The gender doubles results stayed the same - Fives women won, followed by the Sliders men winning (stop me if you have seen this before).
Lea Jansen and CJ Klinger flipped the script in mixed doubles, winning 11-4 over Noe and Meghan, for the first time in three matches. Again, Parris and Andrei were able to beat Anna Leigh and Will, for the third straight time, 11-6. And just like that, the Columbus Sliders won match #3, 3-1.
The Fives had a great season and looked to be peaking at the right time as well. However, they fell just short, for the second season in a row, coming in second. Congrats to them on a great season.
The Sliders capped off an incredible playoff run, where they took down the top three seeds in convinsing fashion. They beat the Flash in three, going to a DreamBreaker in all three matches. They stomped the Shock winning 3-0 and then in a DreamBreaker. And lastly, they beat the Fives, losing in a DreamBreaker, winning in a DreamBreaker, and then winning in regulation.
The Las Vegas Night Owls Win Challenger Level in a Thriller over the Nashville Chefs
The Challenger Level Finals were thrilling. Many people had not watched much Challenger all year. It is more difficult to watch, logistically, as the easiest way to do so is in the paid PickleballTV app.
The Challenger Level Finals were everything a pickleball can hope for, and more. Who doesn't love a super tight match that goes to a DreamBreaker to see which team is crowned Champions AND earns promotion to Premier Level, and who goes home?
Since the start of the 2025 season, the Night Owls have been the #1 seeded team and they carried that all the way through winning the Challenger Level title in New York.
Play started Saturday, with Las Vegas eking out a victory, 3-1. After gender doubles, it was tied up at 1-1, with Vegas winning women's and Nashville winning men's. Las Vegas then went on to win both mixed doubles games, 11-8, 11-2.
On Sunday morning, the tables turned. Nashville ended up winning 3-1, but changing the outcome of the women's doubles match, and Genie Erokhina and Anderson Scarpa were able to find a win in mixed. This put all the pressure on the last and final match of the three match series.
In match #3, Zoey and Brooke were able to turn the tide back in their favor in women's, but Genie and Anderson were again able to find a win in mixed, forcing the DreamBreaker.
With a DreamBreaker lineup that would rival some Premier Teams, the Night Owls were able to defeat the Chefs, 21-9. They started off the first four rotations leading 12-4, and never looked back. Pablo and Zoey went a combined 12-2.
This was an emotional win for Las Vegas, as they are the only Challenger Level team to earn promotion to Premier Level for next year. The Chefs fought valiantly, and should be proud of their accomplishments this year, falling just short.
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Semifinals #1 - The Sliders Overtook the St. Louis Shock in Convincing Fashion
In the most surprising result of the entire playoffs, the Columbus Sliders beat the St. Louis Shock.
Was the result surprising? Sure - I would say the Sliders were slight underdogs in this matchup. But it was THE WAY that the Sliders won that was the most surprising.
The semifinals took place on Friday, and they got off to a bang, with the Sliders beating the Shock 3-0.
The Sliders won women's doubles and then men's doubles. In mixed, the Shock decided to send their B Team against Columbus' A Team, thinking they would already be ahead 2-0 or tied, 1-1. Instead, Fahey and Tardio fought to keep the match alive, and couldn't do so. Andrei and Parris beat Kate and Gabe, 11-5. The entire match score was 33-20, in favor of the Sliders.
Match #2 was much more competitive, with Anna Bright and Kate flipping the script on Lea and Parris, winning 11-6. Andrei and CJ again cooked, beating the best men's doubles team BY FAR, in the regular season, 11-2.
St. Louis switched up the mixed matchups and both 'A Teams' won 11-5, forcing the DreamBreaker. In the DreamBreaker, Andrei Daescu went 7-3 and Parris Todd went 6-2, leading the way to the 21-13 upset victory over the #1 seeds, and set themselves up for a shot at the finals.
Semifinals #2 - The New Jersey Fives Dismantled the LA Mad Drops in Two
In the second semifinal, The #3 New Jersey Fives took out the #6 LA Mad Drops in two quick matches. The storylines headed into the weekend were surrounding Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters facing off against each other in a head-to-head showdown.
This one was the biggest let down of the weekend, in terms of competitive matches.
New Jersey won 3-0 in both matches on Friday. In both matchups, the lineups were the same. Mixed Doubles #1 was Anna Leigh/Will Howells vs. Catherine Parenteau/Ben Johns.
To sum up the matchup, the Fives went 6-0, and won their games by a combined score of 68-35, nearly doubling the Mad Drops scoreline. They won two games 12-10, so there were competitive games, but it just wasn't enough.
LA is now stuck asking themselves which combination of players to keep and build around for next year. They can keep two of: Hunter Johnson, Catherine Parenteau, and Jade Kawamoto. They can also keep Ben Johns. Which of the three do they drop? Time will tell.
Photo credit for the header image: Major League Pickleball
