The DC Pickleball Team began its postseason campaign with a 3-1 victory over the Texas Ranchers to cap Saturday’s action.

For the first half of the match, though, that outcome seemed unlikely.

Etta Wright and Tina Pisnik took the women’s doubles point for the Ranchers before Christian Alshon and Quang Duong earned a 24-22 advantage in men’s doubles to threaten to give Texas a 2-0 lead.

DC’s James Ignatowich and Dekel Bar, however, wouldn’t let their team fall into that hole; they scored the game’s final four points en route to a 26-24 triumph that evened the match going into mixed doubles.

That was just the first of two tense encounters for Bar on Saturday.

After James Ignatowich/Rachel Rohrabacher defeated Alshon/Wright to put DC up 2-1, Bar returned to the court with Vivian Glozman to face the Ranchers’ pairing of Duong/Pisnik.

It looked like Championship Court might be headed for its second straight DreamBreaker when Texas got up 16-8, but Bar/Glozman caught fire and eventually ended up with a 24-20 lead and a chance to clinch the win.

A few moments later, though, it was Duong/Pisnik who had a chance to extend the match after saving two match points.

After they couldn’t finish the job, DC earned another match point, which Bar converted with a third shot drive that forced an error.

That thrilling victory sealed the deal for DC and gives them a 1-0 lead going into the second match of the series.

It was also Bar’s second win of the day where he had to fight off game points.

“MLP was designed to be close, and there are always a lot of tight games and tight matches,” he explained. “Winning in those situations is about knowing and believing you’re never out of it and trying to raise your level on those important points.”

DC will look to finish the series and earn a trip to the semifinals in Match 2, which will begin at 1 p.m. CST on Sunday.