Highlights and lowlights of the weekend’s events:

Black Diamonds: The Upset Edition. We HAVE to start with our guy Tyler getting a wicked upset over 7th-ranked LA Mad Drops in a clean 3-1 match. Though it was their only match win for the weekend, they took both the NY Hustlers and the Shock to hyped-up Dreambreakers (just don’t ask Anna Bright about it). The one thing you can unequivocally say about UBD is they are laying it all on the court every time they play. Connor Garnett’s addition has energized the team dynamic; he’s brought Alix’s confidence level up when they team up in mixed.

Neck-and-neck at the top. We’re still seeing the same 3 teams duke it out for the top spot: Dallas Flash, Texas Ranchers, and St. Louis Shock, with the latter narrowly clinching the top spot. The Shock knocked off the Flash in a 21-19 Dreambreaker on day one, and went undefeated the rest of the weekend. There’s now just one point between the Shock (38) and Flash (37), with the Ranchers close behind at (34). All three have played 18 total matches this season, so they are truly headed for a Noah Lyle—style photo finish. (Olympics anyone?)

Sliders are sliding down the standings. Injecting fresh blood with Jay Devilliers and Andrea Koop has yet to produce fruitful results. Salt Lake City was their first event to spark team chemistry, so we expected they would feel nice and warm by now. But it wasn’t the case, and they lost all 3 of their matches (1-3, 1-3, 0-4). Ouch. Jay and Riley really need to find their groove— someone remind them they are top 20 players, yeah?

Squeezed out. Ok, they undoubtedly got the Upset Of The Weekend, beating the Flash 1-3 on Sunday, but now sit in 8th with a 5-7 season record. With all the star power on the team, they’ve been one of the biggest disappointments. They’ll have a tough time making the playoffs unless they can win 8 of their last 11.

Bay Area Who? Man, the Breakers really mussed up their team in the waiver periods, sending away Vivan Glozman (who’s playing great with DC now) and Rachel Rettger, and dumping Patrick Kawka after just one event. They went 5-1 in DC and 1-6 ever since. They still sit pretty at the #3 spot, but unless they can get their act together, they’re going to fall pretty quick. Remember, the top 4 teams are promoted to Premier, and Aces and Night Owls are right on their tail with more matches remaining.

*NOTE- If you’re wondering, all matches are played to 4 games, even if the outcome was decided after 3. This is so teams play the same number of games by the end of the season, which determines seeding and placement for end-of-year playoffs

Next Up: MLP New York City

MLP takes a small break while PPA tour picks back up and goes on a run for the month of August. MLP New York City takes place Sept 19-22. You know we’ll be sharing event details - so keep a watchful eye on your inbox!

In the meantime, PPA Kansas City is just about to kick off, and if you’re still in town from MLP (or want to jump in the car and head that way), be sure to take advantage of the KOTC exclusive discount for spectator tickets using code KOTC for 25% off!

Games to Re-Watch

If you’ve missed watching this weekend, or just want to re-live games with thrilling action or intrigue, we recommend the following:

• Can we just say ALL the UBD matches?

  • vs. Mad Drops - for the upset. You can skip women’s doubles if you want to save time.

  • vs. NY Hustlers - because they’re a dominant team and the Diamonds pushed them into a Dreambreaker

  • vs. Shock - because it was a SPICY match. If only the mics had picked up more than 20% of Tyler’s mouth, it would’ve been EVEN more entertaining.

• Squeeze vs. Flash - The Upset you’ve (maybe) been hoping for, where the struggling Squeeze knock off top dog Dallas Flash.

• Cali Black Bears vs. Hard Eights - You won’t catch Jimmy on the sidelines this time, but Big H and Wyatt Stone were commentating, and that alone is worth the watch.

• Shock vs. Flash - the Battle of Bestests is a must-see, especially since it ended in a Dreambreaker

• DC vs. Flash - We’ve barely mentioned DC, but they came back from a break to a decent showing… but they’re not blowing anyone out of the water just yet. James & Co need to find their groove. (Not posted to YouTube yet, but keep checking their channel)

• Ranchers vs. Drive - We’ve also hardly mentioned the Ranchers, and they’re not to be overlooked. Check out this energetic matchup with a high-scoring mixed match between Quang & Tina vs. Dylan & Kaitlyn.

NEXT KOTC Pod the guys will chat about even more MLP Kansas City storylines, and give a sneak peak into PPA Kansas City.

Premiers Wednesday, August 7th 10 a.m. MT