Just over two months ago, the Brooklyn Pickleball Team (12-5, 39pts) defeated the Orlando Squeeze (12-7, 34pts) 3-1 in the inaugural edition of Saturday Primetime Pickleball at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, FL.

Brooklyn earned another regulation victory over Orlando on Saturday night during MLP New York, this time in front of their home crowd at Sportime Randall’s Island.

Even though the results of the two contests were the same, there was one key difference for Brooklyn this time around: AJ Koller filling in for Dekel Bar.

Koller has played in Brooklyn’s last six matches with Bar and Pat Smith out with injuries. He played a key role in Saturday’s triumph, competing alongside Riley Newman in men’s doubles and picking up an 11-9 victory over Orlando’s Federico Staksrud/Dylan Frazier to put Brooklyn up 2-0.

Rachel Rohrabacher/Jackie Kawamoto—who are on a ten-game winning streak in women’s doubles—have been the only constant for Brooklyn this season.

Rohrabacher spoke about what it has taken to remain successful in light of all the absences the team has faced on the men’s side.

“I felt like we went into this just trying to be flexible and ready for anything to happen,” she mentioned. “Even though some of the guys aren’t in, they’re on the sideline cheering for us to make it feel a little more normal. But shout out to AJ—he’s been with us for two weeks now and has been doing a great job.”

With Brooklyn leading 2-1, Kawamoto/Newman took the court with a chance to close out the contest against Orlando’s Samantha Parker/Dylan Frazier.

That’s exactly what they did, delivering a dominant 11-2 victory to cap Saturday’s action and help Brooklyn earn three standings points.

Newman talked about the role that the crowd played in Saturday’s win.

“It’s absolutely everything,” he said. “Coming from a basketball background of playing in arenas where it’s packed, I love playing in those atmospheres, and our team does, too. You could see it out there. The adrenaline and energy from the fans leaks on the court, and so I had a blast playing out there today.”

Both Brooklyn and Orlando will be back in action on Sunday; Brooklyn will face the seemingly revitalized Carolina Hogs (4-13, 13pts) and New York Hustlers (3-14, 8pts), while Orlando will take on the Columbus Sliders (13-5, 39pts).