It’s only Thursday at The Picklr MLP Salt Lake City, but fans may have already witnessed one of the most important matches of the weekend in terms of playoff positioning.

The Miami pickleball Club (8-13, 21pts) faced off against the Chicago Slice (5-17, 20pts) on Thursday afternoon in a bout between two teams vying for the tenth and final playoff spot.

Both squads had 19 standings points entering the contest, but Miami is now in sole possession of the final qualifying spot after a DreamBreaker triumph.

That DreamBreaker, however, almost didn’t happen.

Chicago led 2-1 going into the second mixed doubles game when they sent out Callie Smith/James Ignatowich to close out the match, but Miami’s Mya Bui/Yuta Funemizu had other plans.

They stunned the veterans by an 11-5 score line to bring on the deciding contest.

“We really just wanted to bring the energy,” Bui said of the mentality going into the final mixed doubles game. “We wanted to leave it all out on the court. That’s really what we talked about before we went on. Everyone on this team just really wants it, so we wanted to give it our best effort.”

They certainly did give their best effort, which opened the door for Jay Devilliers to shine in the DreamBreaker. The ‘Flying Frenchman’ outscored Chicago’s Max Freeman 8-2 through three rotations to lift Miami to a 21-13 triumph.

“That was definitely special,” Devilliers said after the match. “This is big for us and for our momentum, but the job is not done. We have four more this weekend, so you’re gonna see us bringing the energy again.”

Both Miami and Chicago will be back in action on Friday; Miami will face the Texas Ranchers and Atlanta Bouncers, while the Slice will take on the Utah Black Diamonds.