For the first time in franchise history, the St. Louis Shock take home the Mid-Season Tournament title, and 10 regular season standings points.

The Shock beat the New Jersey 5s in a three game sweep in the finals, to earn the victory. The women's duo of Kate Fahey and Anna Bright had the arduous task of taking on Anna Leigh Waters and Jorja Johnson in the first game. The Shock ladies had the second best record headed into the match, but the 5s ladies were 25-0 in their games. That's not a typo - Jorja and AL were undefeated this entire season headed into the Mid-Season Tournament final.

Kate and Anna had a game plan and executed that strategy to perfection, winning 11-6, to give Jorja and AL their first women's loss on the year. For more on that strategy, check out the article Alex E. Weaver wrote today:

The Deceptively Simple Strategy That Beat Anna Leigh Waters

If you can’t beat her, just don’t let her play.

The Dink PickleballAlex E. Weaver

Hayden and Gabe then stepped on the court, and easily took care of Noe Khlif and Will Howells, 11-3.

In the third and final game, it was back and forth for a while, but Anna Bright and Hayden were able to take out Noe and Anna Leigh, 11-8, for the 3-0 clean sweep.

This was the first time the St. Louis Shock won a Mid-Season Tournament and it really helped them in the standings.

With the ten points for the Shock and the six points for the Fives, they are in a dead heat at 93 standings points, vying for that coveted first place headed into the playoffs. That will likely be determined in three weeks in MLP Orlando, in the last regular season event of the year, where they are in opposite pools, and could very likely play each other in the Super Sunday championship to see who earns the #1 seed.

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The Sliders upset the Mad Drops in the third place match

The Columbus Sliders ended up winning bronze and four standings points, which could go a long way in the playoff seeding. A top four spot in the playoffs is highly coveted and it seems like that fourth spot is up for grabs between Columbus and Brooklyn. These extra four points actually had Columbus passing Brooklyn in terms of points per event, at a score of 16.25 to 16, respectively, for fourth place.

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The Sliders beat both Utah and Chicago, 3-0, before facing the Fives in the semis, losing 3-1. In the backdraw, they beat the Texas Ranchers 3-1, and then beat the LA Mad Drops 3-1 as well, earning the bronze. They are finding their momentum and confidence right now, and we will see if they can keep that headed into the playoffs in a month.

Two injuries happened in Grand Rapids

Unfortunately, two injuries occurred in Grand Rapids. First, Jay Devilliers got hit in the face on a Jessie Irvine overhead while he was attempting to poach:

Paddle to the Face Leaves MLP Player Jay Devilliers Bloodied

In an MLP matchup yesterday between his team, the Atlanta Bouncers, and the LA Mad Drops, Jay found himself on the business end of parter Jessie Irvine’s paddle.

The Dink PickleballAlex E. Weaver

It was a super unfortunate accident that left Jay with multiple stitches near his eye/eyebrow area. On Instagram the next day, he took the blame for the incident, saying he was late on his poach.

The other injury occurred to Lacy Schneemann, of the Orlando Squeeze. She hurt her ankle pretty badly in a scrimmage versus another team. She was seen on-site with crutches later that day in a match, and in a walking boot the next day. Thoughts and prayers go out to Lacy and a speedy recovery.

Stock Up - Stock Down

A few teams that stood out to me:

Stock Up

• Phoenix Flames - The Flames lost 2-3 in a DreamBreaker to Atlanta in their first round matchup. After that, though, they beat both Las Vegas and Miami 3-1. They then faced red hot Texas, and narrowly lost in a DreamBreaker, 18-21. I think the addition of coach Patrick Kawka was a genius move and paid dividends immediately in Grand Rapids.
• Chicago Slice - Made it to the quarterfinals, beating the Brooklyn Pickleball Team. Sure, it was not the same Brooklyn Team, but a win is a win. They won 23-21 in a Dreambreaker. They also just made a move for Emma Nelson, as they continue to stockpile young assets.

Stock Down

• Orlando Squeeze - The Squeeze were without Jack Sock this weekend, but really the biggest issue is the Lacy injury. She has been playing really well with Milly, so I am very interested to see if they go add a woman in the last waiver period or before the trade deadline to help bolster their roster.
• Las Vegas Night Owls - I think was more of an anomaly than anything for the Night Owls. After beating Australia 3-0, they lost 1-3 to both Dallas and Phoenix. Their biggest bright spot was the duo of Zoey Wang and Roscoe Bellamy, going 3-0, winning by a combined score of 33-11.

My first time experience at the Beer City Open/Mid-Season Tournament

Everyone has been telling me for four years I need to attend the Beer City Open. They were right.

This was my first time attending and I had a ton of fun. It is really cool seeing a public park turned into a huge MLP event. The event took over the area.

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Andrea Koop and Paul Richards do such a phenomenal job putting this event on - everything is thought of. The amateur players have great tournaments, with play being quick and on time. The pro players always have the best player's lounge at this event and the competition is fun.

The vendors and concerts were a great touch and really made it feel kind of like a festival every day.

I will definitely be back next year.

The Major League Pickleball regular season is back in action this week in San Diego - don't miss any of the action on pickleballtv. I will publish a preview of the event on Wednesday.