Kaitlyn Christian and Lacy Schneemann celebrate a point.
Kaitlyn Christian and Lacy Schneemann celebrate a point for the Arizona Drive. Major League Pickleball

Drive, Shock capture DreamBreaker victories

OVERLAND PARK, KS - The Arizona Drive (Andrei Daescu, Dylan Frazier, Lacy Schneemann, Kaitlyn Christian) and St. Louis Shock (Anna Bright, Hayden Patriquin, Gabriel Tardio, Kate Fahey) closed out their Sunday afternoons with DreamBreaker triumphs over the New York Hustlers and Utah Black Diamonds, respectively.

The Drive’s faceoff with the Hustlers was a true-back-and-forth affair, as the teams split the gender doubles matches and mixed doubles matches.

In the DreamBreaker, however, it was all Arizona.

The Drive jumped out to a 7-1 lead behind strong rotations from Frazier and Daescu against the Hustlers’ Jack Sock and C.J. Klinger.

That early advantage would prove to be insurmountable for New York, as the Drive raced to an eventual 21-12 victory to seal the win.

 

The Shock’s battle against the Black Diamonds, on the other hand, was a story of who had the hot hand. St. Louis did, at first, by taking both gender doubles matches by double digits.

But Utah would not go down so easily, fighting back to win both mixed doubles matches to force the deciding contest.

From there, though, it was all St. Louis. Anna Bright caught fire in the DreamBreaker, outscoring Utah’s Alix Truong 8-1 through three rotations to propel the Shock to a 21-15 victory.

 

The Shock are finished after going 4-0 in Kansas City, while the Drive will play their final match of the event on Monday against the D.C. Pickleball Team.