1. No flash in the pan. The Dallas Flash made another strong move. They tightened their grip on first place, with six team points on the day. They warmed up with a 3-1 win over Utah, and then made a statement with a 3-1 win over St. Louis. The STL match was a thriller, with three matches won by scores of 26-24, 25-23, and 25-23. Two teams will get a first round bye in the playoffs, and getting a bye is a huge advantage. Dallas took a big step toward securing one of those byes.

 

2. Texas two-step. The Texas Ranchers said don’t forget about the other Texas team, also securing six team points on the day. Texas beat LA 3-1, and then AZ 3-1. The LA win featured a tough women’s doubles match where Tina Pisnik/Etta Wright defeated Catherine Parenteau/Jade Kawamoto 25-23. The men had their turn in the AZ match, with Christian Alshon/Quang Duong defeating Andrei Daescu/Dylan Frazier 28-26. Texas and Dallas both feature very balanced teams, with four strong doubles teams. Unlike some teams, Texas and Dallas are not dependent on one particular pair, but can win any of the four matches.

 

3. St. Louis with a big win. STL started the day with a huge 3-1 win over New Jersey. In the opening women’s doubles match, Anna Bright/Kate Fahey defeated Anna Leigh Waters/Mari Humberg 30-28, in a thriller. STL, like Dallas and Texas, is a more balanced team, whereas NJ is built to win through their women. If the women’s doubles team for NJ loses, they are in trouble.

 

4. Columbus shows signs of life. Columbus came into Saturday on life support, 11th in the standings. Columbus got a much needed 3-1 win over AZ to start their day. Riley Newman/Jay Devilliers beat Daescu/Frazier in a 29-27 thriller (watch a replay of the last point). AZ is like NJ, an unbalanced team, where AZ relies heavily on their men. When AZ loses the men’s doubles match they are in trouble. Newman had two wins in the match, leading his team to the victory. Columbus later lost in a Dreambreaker to LA, but grabbed four team points on the day. Columbus’ chances of making the playoffs stayed alive, albeit on life support.

 

5. Women at the top and on the bottom. In the individual player standings, we see Waters still at #1. Wright and Pisnik both of Texas are at #3 and #5 to lead their team. At the bottom is Brooke Buckner of Carolina; her teammate Jessie Irvine is 37th out of 40. The trend at this point is that balanced teams are toward the top, but a team can also succeed with a team oriented toward the women. But, the teams with a focus on the men on the team are struggling.

 

 

1. The Johns misfire. Carolina grabbed an early win 3-1 over last place Utah. But, later in the day, Carolina lost 3-1 to NJ. Zane Navratil and Will Howells defeated Ben Johns and Collin Johns 25-23. As with AZ, Carolina is built such that the men’s doubles team almost has to win their match for the team to have any hope. When Ben and Collin lost, the team looked dispirited and they went on to meekly lose.

 

2. AZ misses their chance. AZ went 0-2 on the day and obtained zero team points. Daescu/Frazier lost both of their men’s doubles matches. Again, AZ is an unbalanced team, so when they lose at men’s doubles, it is very hard for them to come back.

 

3. No home cooking for Utah. Utah had a lot of energy in front of their home crowd, but still lost both of their matches by 3-1 scores. On the good side, Alix Truong played better again, which gives the team a ray of hope. They have no chance to make the playoffs, but are at least putting up a fight now in each match.

 

Sunday has six matches on tap. St. Louis and Texas both have a solid opportunity to score six team points on Sunday. Teams like Carolina, Columbus, and Orlando have a chance to show some life; if they don’t, their chance of making the playoffs will be significantly diminished. There are a number of interesting matches on Sunday. Carolina plays twice, so we will see if the Johns brothers show with both having energy; if they do not, their team will have a long day. Tune in to see what happens.

 

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