What a weekend it was in Newport Beach for the MLP quarterfinals. We had a dominating performance by St. Louis, a near upset of New Jersey, and two matchups that came down to the third and deciding match on Sunday. All four of the quarterfinal matchups had thrilling action, shots worthy of ESPN Sportscenter highlights, and lots of drama. Let’s go over each of the matchups and point out the top performances.

 

 

The St. Louis Shock came into Newport Beach still smarting from their regular season ending loss to New Jersey, which cost St. Louis the top seed. The Shock players wore very determined looks at practice in Newport Beach. This was a team that looked confident and ready to show they were the best team, MLP Orlando notwithstanding.

 

Unfortunately for Texas, they were the team standing in St. Louis’ way of claiming a spot in the semifinals. Match One of Texas vs. St. Louis was the first match of the quarterfinals, and it was all St. Louis. Texas could only manage nine total points in three games. Anna Bright and Kate Fahey set the tone right off the bat with a quick 11-3 victory over Lea Jansen and Kaitlyn Christian.

 

 

Match Two was Saturday and St. Louis played like they had a plane to catch. They allowed Texas only 11 points in three games. Bright and Fahey again suffocated Jansen and Christian, this time 11-2. Jansen showed some spunk in mixed doubles, with a few chippy comments to Hayden Patriquin. But it did not change the results. 

 

St. Louis was simply too good for Texas. Indeed, if St. Louis plays the rest of the playoffs as they did in Newport Beach, they will be very tough to beat. St. Louis believes they had the best team in 2024 and 2025 and were denied their rightful crown each time. They are on a mission in 2026.

 

 

 

On paper, the New Jersey vs. Palm Beach matchup looked like a mismatch. Palm Beach’s big strength all year was their women’s doubles team of Sofia Sewing and Tina Pisnik, but that strength played right in to the unstoppable force that is New Jersey’s near unbeatable tandem of Anna Leigh Waters and Jorja Johnson. Palm Beach’s men had been so-so at best all year, with waiver pickup Casey Diamond replacing Tyson McGuffin in the starting lineup. Dekel Bar was supposed to be their star, but Bar could only manage a 30-27 record all year. How could Palm Beach expect to compete with the juggernaut that is New Jersey?

 

But, this is why they play the games. In Match One, Waters and Johnson did what they do, rolling to an easy 11-4 win over Sewing and Pisnik. When your best doubles team only gets four points, no one would blame Palm Beach if they were quickly deflated. But, give Palm Beach all the credit in the world. They just did not buy the hype. Bar and Diamond fought right back, with an 11-4 win in men’s doubles. Zoey Weil accurately tweeted that Bar was playing like his heyday of 2024. But, of course, New Jersey could then count on their top rated mixed team of Noe Khlif and Anna Leigh Waters to win, right? No one told Bar and Pisnik they were supposed to lose. They not only beat Khlif and Waters, they did so easily, 11-4!

 

That left Jorja Johnson and Federico Staksrud needing a victory in mixed #2 just to get to a DreamBreaker. Johnson was steady and Staksrud supplied the offense. In what was to become a theme for the weekend, the newly-acquired Staksrud saved New Jersey, dominating the mixed #2 game. That led to an unexpected DreamBreaker and Staksrud was again the key, winning the big points late. A Will Howells winner closed it out, 21-18, and New Jersey escaped with a win.

 

 

On Sunday, the talk was that New Jersey was now focused and would easily defeat Palm Beach and move on. But, we all forgot to let Palm Beach in on the secret. New Jersey took both gender doubles games, but Bar and Pisnik did the impossible, again, and defeated Waters and Khlif in mixed, 11-9. That set up Staksrud to again be the hero. In the mixed #2 game, Staksrud showed why New Jersey traded for him. He was the best player in the matchup, and New Jersey closed it with an 11-3 win.

 

New Jersey won, but Palm Beach did not lose. Palm Beach came in as about a 100-1 underdog. But every player on Palm Beach fought hard and played well. Dekel Bar, in particular, showed his season-long play was not indicative of his true skill level. Bar played like a top 10 player in this matchup and almost helped his team to what would have been the biggest upset in MLP history. Tina Pisnik was right there with Bar in mixed, contributing the shot of the weekend on a desperate lunge ATP in the Match One DreamBreaker.

 

New Jersey moves on, but unlike St. Louis, New Jersey did not exactly look like a champion. New Jersey may need to make some adjustments, or they could be in trouble in New York.

 

 

 

LA had their pick of Dallas or Brooklyn. It was not an easy choice, especially with Brooklyn’s Rachel Rohrabacher expected back at full strength. LA picked Dallas, but someone forgot to tell Dallas they were the underdog.

 

In Match One, Dallas came right out and won women’s doubles, 11-8. Ben Johns led LA back, winning both his games, for a 2-1 lead. Connor Garnett and Catherine Parenteau closed it out, with an 11-6 win and the 3-1 victory. LA just needed one more win to move on.

 

 

Match Two on Saturday started like a repeat of Match One. Dallas won women’s doubles and Ben Johns won his two games to take the 2-1 lead. If Garnett and Parenteau could win their game, LA would be on to the semifinals. But, Augie Ge and Danni-Elle Townsend had other ideas. They were 19-4 on the year, and they avenged their Match One loss, winning 11-5, and we were on to a DreamBreaker. JW Johnson set the tone by winning 3-1 in both of his rotations against Ben Johns. Danni-Elle Townsend swept her eight points, and Dallas easily won the DreamBreaker 21-11.

 

 

Sunday would be the third and deciding match. LA came out hot, flipping the script in women’s doubles. Parenteau played her best game of the weekend and LA was up 1-0. But, LA couldn’t handle the prosperity. For the first time all weekend, JW Johnson was able to get a win against Ben Johns. JW and Augie Ge rolled, 11-2, and we were all even. Surely though, Ben Johns could not lose both his games? But, Johnson continued his stellar play and Brooke Buckner played the defensive game of her life, making save after save. Dallas won 11-6 and was one win from the semis.

 

The finale was Ge and Townsend against Garnett and Parenteau. Dallas had a nice lead, but LA fought back. It looked like LA might take the lead late, but Ge and Townsend were able to close it, 11-8. Dallas was through to the semis.

 

 

 

The closest matchup of Newport Beach was expected to be Brooklyn against defending champ Columbus. This one did not disappoint. Match One was close, with the key being a comeback win by Columbus in men’s doubles, 13-11. Columbus fought off a couple of game points. Had it gone the other way, Brooklyn would have won 3-1. As it was, the 2-2 split lead to a DreamBreaker. The DreamBreaker was all Brooklyn, 21-10. Jackie Kawamoto, not known as a singles player, was the star, as she so often is at DreamBreakers.

 

 

On Sunday, Columbus started by returning the favor. We had another DreamBreaker, but this time, Columbus kept their singles specialists on the bench. CJ Klinger did his Jackie Kawamoto impression and did the major work to win this one. Klinger won the last three points, over world singles #1 Chris Haworth, and Columbus had the victory, 21-18.

 

 

That set up a late Sunday Match Three to decide it. Brooklyn took both gender doubles by identical 11-5 scores. Columbus fought back, winning mixed #1. That left it to Jackie Kawamoto and Riley Newman to try to close it out; Columbus wanted a third DreamBreaker. Brooklyn bounced out to an 8-0 lead and it looked over. But Columbus fought back. Just when it looked like it might be DreamBreaker time, a winner from Kawamoto sent Brooklyn to the win and the semifinals.

 

 

Newport Beach had it all. The weather was perfect, the crowds were large and loud, St. Louis was dominant, and we had upsets and near upsets. New Jersey, St. Louis, Dallas, and Brooklyn now move on. They will meet in New York with New Jersey picking either Dallas or Brooklyn as their opponent. Whatever the matchups, New York is guaranteed to see some of the most exciting pickleball of the year. Can’t wait!

 

It will all be on Pickleballtv. Watch it there.

 

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