⚡️Dallas Flash did it!⚡️

MLP 2024 Wraps in Orlando

After what feels like a very long MLP season, the final matches culminated in Orlando this weekend, crowning winners in each league. In our preview issue, we asked “Can either the Flash or the Ranchers take down the Shock and Fives to be the ultimate winner?” Well, we got our answer: The Flash can!

Premier League

Semi-finals: lightning vs. lightning

The Dallas Flash shut out the noise of the doubters as they grinded through semi-finals against the St. Louis Shock, taking them down 6-1. Despite having the advantage of all coin-toss options, the Shock were swept in Match 1 on Friday. Not even top stars Hayden and Anna could pull in a win over Jorja and JW, who were dialed in. During Match 1, Hayden tripped over the carpet edging the court, tumbling into the partition and appearing to injure his wrist. There was some question about his ability to return for the game or even Match 2, but after a quick examination by onsite medical staff, he returned play.

In Match 2 on Saturday, the Shock opened strong in the ladies’ matchup, beating Flash 25-11. Both JW and Augie played at peak performance for the rest of the games, winning in men’s 25-20, mixed 1 (JW/Jorja vs. Kate/Gabe) 26-24, and mixed 2 (Augie/Tyra vs. Anna/Hayden) 26-24.

Semi-finals: Ranchers swept by Fives

The Texas Ranchers were absolutely dominated by the Fives in the semi-finals, being swept in both matches. We all expected the Fives would come out victorious, but it was surprising how fast and furious the win was. The first matchup on Friday opened with women’s, where AL/Mari won 27-25 over Tina and Etta. The Fives men then took a wide lead, winning 25-19 over Christian and Quang, and the match ended on the mixed battle between Zane/Mari and Christian/Etta (25-20).

It was a similar story in Match 2, but the Fives ladies took a bigger win, 25-15. In the men’s matchup, the Ranchers went up 17-9 when, after an intense hands battle, pettiness ensued. As Christian approached the net to collect the ball, Will picked it up and chucked it at Christian’s chest, though he was within arms’ reach to hand it to him. Christian protested to the refs, but no penalty or hindrance was called. The heightened emotion must’ve gotten to Christian and QD who seemed to spiral, and let the Fives go on an 12-1 run. They couldn’t rally back, and Will & Zane won 25-23. AL and Will took a turn going first in mixed, and while Tina & QD kept the score close throughout, the Fives ultimately took it 25-20.

3rd Place matchup

Neither the Ranchers nor the Shock were ready to give up on a shot to finish top 3, and they had an intense battle all the way to a Dreambreaker in the third place match. Both the women’s and men’s opening games ended in high scores: 29-27 (Ranchers) and 30-28 (Shock), respectively. In Mixed 1, Tina & QD proved they are not to be overlooked by beating Kate & Gabe 25-18. The final regulation game saw AB & Big H dominate 25-11 over Etta & Christian. After this final matchup, with Dreambreaker in the queue, Etta received medical attention and had to withdraw from play. There was a pretty heated debate on the sideline, as to whether a mid-match substitution was allowed. Head of Competition Courtney Johnson and a mustachioed Connor Pardoe got involved, and ultimately approved Pierina Imparato to step in. All the drama was for naught, as the Shock easily handled the DB matchups, winning 21-13.

Championship Matchup

It should be no surprise that the NJ Fives and Dallas Flash were going to put on a show in the final matches. ALW has looked unbeatable all year going into the finals with a 47-3 record. With the power of the automatic coin flip win, the Fives continued their strategy of sending ALW/Will out to play the #2 mixed team (Tyra/Augie). They’ve utilitized this strategy all year to leverage ALW wins and force a Dreambreaker at worse. Given their 6-0 dreambreaker record, it clearly worked. In Match 1, ALW continued her undefeated playoff record and forced a Dreambreaker. The Fives went on an 8-0 run between Zane and ALW and Dallas could never catch back up. A Fives championship seemed inevitable given ALW’s ability to win her doubles matches and the Fives’ strength in the Dreambreaker. Match 2 was basically the exact same match, with the same matchup outcomes except for Dreambreaker. Despite ALW’s continued doubles dominance, the Flash were able to squeak through and win the Dreambreaker 21-15.

Finally beating the Fives (in a Dreambreaker, no less) gave the Flash the confidence they needed going into Match 3. Tyra was getting more comfortable with each match, and Augie was finding his opportunities more and more. Match 3 meant a true coin flip was back in play, and winning it meant Dallas could choose the order of gender doubles. They selected men’s first, but it backfired. Zane notched his first win of the championship and set up the Fives to cruise to victory (as long as ALW just continued her doubles dominance). The Fives seemed to come out complacent, and Mari started the match in her hoodie. Tyra and Jorja weren’t about to make it easy, and they came out firing. They targeted Mari heavily, doing their best to ice out ALW to cruise to a 25-17 victory. ALW made several uncharacteristic errors and was visibily frustrated on the sideline. She was seen on camera yelling F-bombs multiple times during the women’s match. Leading into mixed, the Fives got to react and sent out Zane & Mari as the sacrificial lamb to the Johnsons. Mari, still reeling from her WD loss, struggled at first, but found a rythmn before falling to the Johnsons 28-26. This meant all ALW had to do was beat Tyra & Augie and force a Dreambreaker. The pressure was some of the most intense of all pickleball in 2024, and no one handled it better than Augie and Tyra. Augie attacked Will whenever he left dinks high, and Tyra held her own in hands battles vs ALW before claiming victory 25-21 on an ALW volley into the net. ALW stayed for the paddle tap and then was gone, despite the rest of the Fives team hanging around to congratulate the Flash. Despite their name, the Flash won not with fanfare and expensive top-tier draft picks, but with fundamentals, great team chemistry, and tenacity to never give up. We can’t wait for 2025!

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Challenger League

We didn’t forget about Challenger! They may not have the star power of Premier, but the teams facing off have already earned their promotion for 2025, proving themselves worthy. And, shall we note, the Challenger champion was correctly predicted by Tyler: Miami Pickleball Club!

Semi-finals

Unsurprisingly, the Chicago Slice dominated the Bouncers in Match 1 of their semifinal matchup, sweeping 3-0. The Slice women, Megan Fudge & Michelle Esquivel (in for Allison Harris) came out punching, taking game 1, 25-16. The men then put up a bit of a fight, but Jack Munro & Wyatt Stone (subbing for injured Brendan Long) overtook Scarpa & Fought, 27-25. Slice closed it out in game 3 with Wyatt & Michelle winning 25-20. The next day in Match 2, the women extracted their revenge with Cederquist/Barr winning 25-19. The revenge tour quickly ended there, with the Slice winning remaining games and taking the match 3-1, moving on to finals.

Friday was a day of sweeps, as Miami meanwhile beat the Hard Eights in 3 games. Milan & Bobbi kicked things off with a 25-17 win over Yana & Irina. Eric Oncins & Noe Khlif then beat Max “Purple Jesus” Manthou & Erik Lange, 25-20. In the first mixed matchup, Miami put up Bobbi & Noe, and SoCal answered with Irina & Max, who lost 25-19. After a day of rest, SoCal came roaring back, conquering Miami in a Dreambreaker match, 3-2 (worth the rewatch, below). Everyone seemed to be warmed up at this point, because Match 3 saw much higher scoring points (most notably women’s dubs, 28-25 Miami). Miami won Match 3, losing only the men’s doubles game, which put them through to the finals. Overall, the ladies seemed to be key to Miami’s success, as they won all their doubles matches, and Bobbi and Milan finished #1 and 2, respectively, in player standings for the Orlando event.

Finals

So it came down to Chicago Slice vs. Miami Pickleball Club in the finals, and the two traded blows. First, Miami methodically swept 3-0 (MD 25-21, WD 25-21, MX1 25-21), with the one mixed matchup between Noe/Bobbi and Fudge/Munro. In Match 2, Slice punched back with a sweep of their own (WD 26-24, MD 25-21, MX1 25-17). Mixed was once again Noe/Bobbi vs. Fudge/Munro, but this time it didn’t go Miami’s way.

This took us to Match 3 where the Miami women stunned the Slice 25-10, followed by the Miami men racking up the points, winning 28-26. The only real switchup was in mixed, where Fudge/Munro played Eric/Milan and won 28-26. But in the end, Bobbi & Noe closed it out 25-11 over subs Wyatt & Michelle, and Miami defeated the Slice 3 games to 1. 

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Next Up: CIBC PPA Finals

With MLP in the books for 2024, our focus turns to the final few events of the PPA season, starting with CIBC Finals in San Clemente. Finals is Invitation Only; players had to finish in the top 8 (or 16, in doubles) of The Race to qualify.

PPA Finals is December 4 - 8 at LifeTime San Clemente

Matchups

Starting at the top of the chart, players picked their partners, and had to choose from among the qualifying players. There were a few players opting out due to injury or personal reasons, opening up a spot for the next highest ranked player.

In Mixed Doubles, top-placing ladies were given the choice to pick their partner. Regular partners Thomas Wilson and Vivienne David are both out due to injury, opening the final spot for Jessie & Riley.

In women’s doubles, Lea Jansen qualified but withdrew from the event due to health concerns, and both Kawamoto sisters had to decline due to work obligations (both work for NCAA in Indianapolis). This left Mari and Jessie sneaking into the last spot.

The biggest surprise in men’s doubles (though not so surprising if you’re elbow-deep in Pickleball Gossip) is Dylan Frazier selecting Pablo Tellez over his usual partner, JW Johnson. This is foreshadowing to 2025, as these two have already planned to explore different partnerships.

In women’s singles, Lea Jansen also will not be playing, leaving #9 Mary Brascia to take the last spot. On the men’s side, Hunter did an astounding move from #34 early in 2024 to the #4 seed - perhaps the most significant upward trajectory?

All events will be pool play, round robin style, with the top 2 in each pool advancing to semi-finals. Even the Junior PPA players will partake; qualifying junior players will compete in their bracket on Grandstand Court, Saturday Dec 7th.

If you’re planning to attend PPA finals you can secure your tickets at a discount using code KOTC.

Catch our next two live-recorded pods with special guests from PPA Worlds.