GRAND RAPIDS, MI - The MLP Mid-Season tournament ended Sunday with New Jersey defeating DC 21-18 in a Dreambreaker to take the title.

This event was different from the prior 2024 MLP events, in that there was a bracket, with a specific championship match, rather than just a round robin with no definite ending. The bracket format appeared to bring some extra excitement to the MLP event, and MLP may want to consider holding only bracket-type events in 2025.

 

As always, there were highlights, and some misses along the way.

Let’s look at the hits and misses from the Mid-Season Tournament:

 

 

1. NJ’s win. At the top of the list has to be NJ winning the tournament. Anna Leigh Waters would be my MVP for the tournament, going 5-1. She was ably assisted by Mari Humberg, who went 4-2. The NJ men were not as effective as the women, but did enough in key spots. Congrats to NJ for the big win.

 

2. Dekel Bar. Bar led the stats page, going 7-1. DC was a 5 seed, so they had the longest road to go to get to the finals. They almost pulled it out, but could not quite close in the Dreambreaker.

 

 

3. Glozman belongs. After a disappointing first two MLP events, I had written that DC should drop Allyce Jones for Vivian Glozman. DC thereafter did that exact move and it has paid off. Glozman went 5-3 and held her own. She is a solid singles player, so the DC Dreambreaker lineup is much improved with her in it. DC is a threat to win the MLP championship in 2024.

 

4. The battle of Texas. In the 3d place match, Dallas took on Texas. This one also went to a Dreambreaker, with Texas prevailing 21-15. Dallas had been my pick to win it all, but they could not quite get it done. JW and Jorja Johnson played strong, but Augie Ge and Tyra Black were a little off. I still think Dallas is the best team on paper, but unfortunately the matches are held on a pickleball court. Dallas can win it all, but they will have to find better consistency.

 

 

5. Quang Duong. QD went 7-2, showing again that PPA results are not always predictive of MLP results. Give him credit for playing well in MLP, but can he translate it to doubles success in PPA tournaments?

 

6. Parity. There appear to be at least five teams with a very legitimate shot to win it all. Texas, Dallas, DC, STL, and NJ all are capable of beating anyone in any one match. It remains to be seen if any of the seven other teams can get all their personnel back and playing consistently enough to be a threat.  Only Utah appears to be hopelessly out of it.

 

7. Close matches. Eight of the twenty matches went to Dreambreakers. Many matches went overtime, with the longest being a 40-38 win by Tyson McGuffin/Parris Todd over CJ Klinger/Jackie Kawamoto in a mixed match. The freeze, often criticized, does create some drama.

 

 

 

1. The Utah blues. Utah just cannot make any progress. Utah lost both its matches to remain winless. They did take the AZ Drive to a Dreambreaker, but AZ was missing Andrei Daescu. Alix Truong again did not win a match. Utah needs a trade, but will they pursue one?

 

2. Carolina mis-firing. Carolina, like Utah, went two and out. Ben Johns was 0-3 in his matches. Ben and Collin Johns just do not appear to be enthusiastic about MLP and it shows in their play and results. The women for Carolina are not strong, so unless Ben dominates, Carolina has no chance.

 

 

3. Columbus losing ugly. Columbus was another two and out team. Like Carolina, they were not only two and out but did so in ugly fashion. The Columbus women, Meghan Dizon and Brooke Buckner, went winless and had the worst stats of any players in the tournament. Dizon simply has played poorly for the last several months. Before that, she had battled some health problems. Although she was supposed to be back at full strength, she is not showing it. Her play for the last two months, both at PPA and MLP events, is Challenger level at best. Columbus is in a tough spot; Dizon is far too good a player to cut, but no one is going to want her in a trade. If Dizon cannot drastically improve, Columbus is done.

 

The Mid-Season Tournament was a big success. Large crowds, great play, exciting matches, and a final that went to a Dreambreaker. What more could anyone want?

Next up will be the Salt Lake City event beginning July 25. The event is back to pool play, so we will see if that affects the excitement level.

 

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