Eric Oncins competing for the Texas Ranchers at MLP Dallas.
Eric Oncins competing for the Texas Ranchers at MLP Dallas. Major League Pickleball

3 things to watch for on Saturday at MLP Dallas

The Major League Pickleball season continues Saturday at MLP Dallas, where 11 teams are in action across four days in the Lone Star State.

The first three days will feature Group Play before the top 4 teams from each group advance to the Standing Point matches on Monday. See updated group standings after Friday’s matches here.

Here are the groups for this week’s event:

  • Group A: Columbus Sliders, Dallas Flash, New Jersey 5s, Orlando Squeeze, and Phoenix Flames

  • Group B:
    Bay Area Breakers, Carolina Hogs, St. Louis Shock, Los Angeles Mad Drops, Texas Ranchers, and Utah Black Diamonds
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Here is the order of play:

 

Now, let’s get into what to watch for.

  • The New Jersey 5s will take the court for the first time in 2026 on Saturday, a moment in which they will debut their newest member, Jorja Johnson. The 5s spent $800K to select Johnson second overall in February’s draft, effectively stealing her from the Dallas Flash, who she played for in 2024 and 2025. Johnson will team up with Anna Leigh Waters in women’s doubles and Will Howells in mixed doubles. That mixed doubles pairing is notable, considering that Waters and Howells played together in 2024 and 2025, but Waters will now partner with Noe Khlif. The 5s will open their season with a championship rematch against the Columbus Sliders before taking on the Dallas Flash Saturday evening.

 

  • Elsewhere, Ella Yeh and Luc Pham will make their MLP debuts for the Bay Area Breakers against the Los Angeles Mad Drops. They are replacing Mya Bui and Len Yang, respectively, who got the starting nod in the Breakers’ season-opening loss to the Texas Ranchers. Yeh will play women’s doubles with Genie Erokhina, while Pham will team up with Pablo Tellez in men’s doubles.

 

  • After a winning start to their season on Friday, the Texas Ranchers have a brutal Saturday schedule that features matchups against the St. Louis Shock and Los Angeles Mad Drops. These matchups project to be tough early tests for a new-look Texas team with a starting lineup consisting of Lea Jansen, Layne Sleeth, Eric Oncins, and Dylan Frazier. Both of the Ranchers’ Saturday contests will be on Championship Court.

 

Live broadcast coverage from Pickler Universe begins at 11am CT on Pickleballtv.