
5 things to watch for on Thursday at MLP Daytona Beach
The 2025 Major League Pickleball season continues this week at MLP Daytona Beach, where nine Premier level teams will be in action across four days at Pictona at Holly Hill.
This is the fifth of ten regular season events. Each team will play a total of 25 matches during the regular season before the top 10 Premier level teams (and all six Challenger level teams) advanced to the playoffs.
Here are the three matches on Thursday’s slate:
Now, let’s get into what to watch for:
- Connor Garnett/Tyler Loong found their groove for the Utah Black Diamonds at MLP Phoenix. They went 5-1, with their lone loss coming against JW Johnson/Augie Ge of the Dallas Flash. They will look to keep that momentum going against New York and New Jersey.
- Speaking of surging men’s doubles teams, Will Howells/Zane Navratil are coming off an impressive 4-0 showing for the New Jersey 5s at MLP Austin. They are 7-3 so far this season, which is a massive improvement from their 16-15 record in 2024.
- Despite having played only two matches with their intended starting lineup so far, the Los Angeles Mad Drops are 5-4 and comfortably in playoff contention. A clash against the league-leading St. Louis Shock will tell us a lot about what this team is capable of at full strength.
- Sticking with the Mad Drops, Catherine Parenteau/Jade Kawamoto have been on a tear recently in women’s doubles. They shockingly fell to the Miami Pickleball Club's Milan Rane/Mya Bui in their season-opening contest, but they haven’t lost since and are on an eight-match winning streak. In Phoenix, they beat the previously undefeated pairing of Jorja Johnson/Tyra Black by an 11-3 score line. On Thursday, they’ll face the only remaining unbeaten women’s doubles team at the Premier level: the Shock’s Anna Bright/Kate Fahey.
- The New York Hustlers very quietly picked up wins over the Phoenix Flames and Carolina Hogs at MLP Columbus. As a result, they’re not too far out of playoff contention on a points-per-match basis. If they want to make a push to the postseason, they are going to have to beat teams like Utah. Thursday will show us if the Hustlers are capable of doing just that. They will be without usual starter Donald Young, so Stephen Madonia will get the nod and play men's doubles with Zane Ford and mixed doubles with Lingwei Kong.
Action starts at 2pm ET on Pickleballtv.
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