The Dallas Flash Go Back-to-Back as the MLP Playoff Race Heats Up
The Dallas Flash have now won two Major League Pickleball (MLP) events in back to back weeks. In MLP San Diego, they scorched the competition, and then in Chicago, they did much of the same.
The Flash faced off against the Brooklyn Pickleball Team in the 1v1 matchup on Sunday, which turned out to the match of the day on Super Sunday.
Alix Truong and Danni Townsend started things hot for Dallas, beating Jackie Kawamoto and Hannah Blatt 11-4 in women’s. Riley Newman and Christian Alshon were able to even things up at 1-1, beating JW Johnson and Augie Ge 11-7, for Brooklyn.
Alshon then partnered up with Rachel Rohrabacher (who only played mixed doubles all weekend), and beat JW and Brooke Buckner, 11-7, giving Brooklyn the lead and the momentum shift. In the last mixed doubles, Danni and Augie clutched up, winning 11-2, over Riley and Jackie.
The Dreambreaker was dominated by Dallas, 21-10.
The @DallasFlashPB take 1st place in MLP Chicago
— Erik Tice (@azetice) July 26, 2026
The Flash beat @brooklynpickleb 21-10 in a Dreambreaker in the 1v1 matchup. Dallas now earns 25 points for the second straight event.
Brooklyn gets 18 points headed into MLP Orlando. pic.twitter.com/wWWK0YpIpO
Dallas finishes their regular season with 72 standings points, good for sixth place in both total points and points per event. That is likely where Dallas will end up at the end of the regular season.
Updated playoff picture
Speaking of the playoffs, I wrote an article yesterday explaining each team’s odds on the playoffs and what their outlook is:
Erik Tice
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The California Black Bears made a surge in Chicago
The Black Bears made a flurry of trades in the last two weeks - the only two players on the team from the beginning of the season are Sahra Dennehy and Luca Mack, who is on Injured Reserve from an injury at the start of the year.
The Bears traded for and picked up Pablo Tellez, Dylan Frazier, Zoey Weil, Jalina Ingram, and Martin Emmrich.
Emmrich served as the Captain/Coach this weekend, helping hte Black Bears to their best finish of the season. They started out slow, losing to Brooklyn, 3-1. However, they went 3-0 in their last three pool matches against Phoenix, Texas, and Miami, earning the #2 seed in pool play.
On Sunday, the Bears beat the Chicago Slice, 3-0, earning 15 standings points, doubling their previous total from three events. The Bears are primed for a playoff push if they can pick up some wins in Orlando.
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The Hometown Slice overperformed expectations
The Chicago Slice hosted this event at the brand new Life Time North Shore facility. Expectations for the team were pretty low headed into the event. They traded for some young up and coming talent, and picked up AJ Koller off waivers, prior to this event. Emma Nelson, John Lucian Goins, and Elsie Hendershot were acquired within the last month.
Captain Zane Navratil only played on Thursday (had a previously scheduled personal commitment this weekend), where the Slice beat the Atlanta Bouncers, 21-13 in a Dreambreaker.
The Slice then beat the Las Vegas Night Owls and the SoCal Hard 8s 3-1, each. On Saturday, they narrowly fell to Utah, 1-3, and Dallas, in a Dreambreaker, 18-21, to finish second in their group.
JLG and Jamie Wei were the stars for Chicago through Saturday, and Nelson, Koller, and Hendershot did a great job contributing.
Despite losing 0-3 on Sunday to California, Chicago moved up the rankings to be the last team in the playoffs. They have a tough pool in Orlando, but anything is possible.
The Utah Black Diamonds were eliminated from playoff contention
The Diamonds started the year with Etta Tuionetoa, Allyce Jones, Connor Garnett, Tama Shimabukuro, Victoria DiMuzio, and Tyler Loong. Since then, they traded away Garnett and got cash and acquired Yuta Funemizu.
The team had some good results, but never really found their groove. They finished fourth in their group three events in a row, earning 16 points. However, in the last two events they only earned one total point.
The Black Diamonds join the Bay Area Breakers and the Florida Smash as the three teams elgiminated from playoff contention.
The Night Owls and Squeeze went from in the playoffs to the outside looking in
The Squeeze weren’t even playing in Chicago, but they dropped two places in the standings, from 12th (and in) to 14th, and out. Orlando traded away Federico Staksrud and Milly Rane at the deadline, and picked up Greg Dow and Lina Padegimaite (and a ton of cash). They will need a good result in their hometown Orlando event to propel them back into the playoffs.
The Night Owls had a weird event in Chicago - it was very up and down. They lost 0-4 to Dallas and then followed that up with a Dreambreaker win over SoCal on Thursday. They then lost 1-3 to Chicago on Friday morning and then beat Utah 3-1 in the afternoon. On Saturday, Las Vegas lost at noon Atlanta, 3-1. On Sunday, they lost 0-3 to Texas, only taking away 4 standings points. Maybe the Night Owls name actually means something - they won the only two afternoon matches they played in this weekend.
MLP Orlando is right around the corner and it is the last regular season stop. Look out for a full preview on Wednesday morning, with play starting Thursday.
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