Will Howells and Zane Navratil competing for the New Jersey 5s at MLP New York City.
Will Howells and Zane Navratil came out and set the tone with a win in men's doubles. Major League Pickleball

5s sweep Hustlers, remain undefeated in New York City

In the most highly anticipated matchup of the weekend, the New Jersey 5s swept their interstate rivals, the New York Hustlers, in front of a raucous Central Park crowd.

Team captain Zane Navratil and Will Howells came out particularly fired up and secured the men’s doubles point with a 25-21 win over New York’s Jack Sock and CJ Klinger.

That result set the tone for the rest of the match, as New Jersey took three more hard-earned victories in a dominant display on Championship Court.

 

With the win, the 5s are now earning an average of 2.08 standings points per match, just behind the St. Louis Shock for the best mark at the Premier level.

One of the key contributors to that success—on top of the extremely talented roster that also includes Anna Leigh Waters and Mari Humberg—is the team’s coach (and Anna Leigh’s mom), Leigh Waters.

Waters says she couldn’t have asked for a better situation to coach in.

“This team is a dream come true for a coach because they’re all super eager to learn,” she mentioned. “When something’s going wrong, they trust me to hopefully make a really good suggestion.”

New Jersey will look to finish the weekend undefeated with two more matches on Sunday against the Utah Black Diamonds and D.C. Pickleball Team.