LIVE BLOG: The latest news and updates from MLP Columbus
The 2025 Major League Pickleball season continues this week at MLP Columbus presented by The James at Ohio State, where nine Premier level teams will be in action across four days at Pickle & Chill.
This is the second of ten regular season events that will take place between April and August, and each team will play a total of 25 matches during the regular season before the playoffs.
Broadcast coverage will be available on the Pickleballtv app, which is available for download in the Apple and Android app stores, starting at 2pm ET.
Stay tuned for live updates throughout the day.
7:40pm ET: Bellamy comes up clutch as Sliders outlast Flames in DreamBreaker
The Columbus Sliders (5-2, 14pts) picked up their fifth straight win with a DreamBreaker triumph over the Phoenix Flames (1-3, 4pts) in the day’s final match at Pickle & Chill.
The Sliders had Roscoe Bellamy starting in place of an ill CJ Klinger, but the big man showed that the moment wasn’t too big for him.
He and Andrei Daescu fell to Tyson McGuffin/Jack Sock in men’s doubles, but he responded by winning the second mixed doubles match alongside Lea Jansen to force the second DreamBreaker of the day on Toray Championship Court.
In that deciding contest, Bellamy was placed against Jack Sock. He went 5-3 against the former tennis star, a mark that helped Columbus secure a 21-13 victory.
Bellamy praised his teammates for helping him rebound after an opening loss in men’s doubles.
“I have a lot of good people around me like Parris, Andrei, Lea, and the rest of the team that are all keeping me motivated,” he said. “I think in that first match I started a little slow and a little tight, and it was really everyone around me that kind of brought me back to life and made me play my game.”
Here are the head-to-head scores from the DreamBreaker:
- Andrei Daescu 6-4 Tyson McGuffin
- Roscoe Bellamy 5-3 Jack Sock
- Parris Todd 5-3 Genie Bouchard
- Lea Jansen 5-3 Jessie Irvine
Both Columbus and Phoenix will be back in action on Friday, with the Sliders set to face the Chicago Slice and Orlando Squeeze and the Flames scheduled to play the New York Hustlers.
6:00pm ET: Shock sweep Bouncers to improve to 3-0
The St. Louis Shock (3-0, 8pts) continued their strong start to the season with a 4-0 sweep of the Atlanta Bouncers (1-3, 3pts).
Atlanta’s Jaume Martinez Vich/Todd Fought nearly picked up a big win in men’s doubles, but the Shock’s Hayden Patriquin/Gabe Tardio took a 12-10 nailbiter to give St. Louis a 2-0 lead.
In mixed doubles, the Shock opted to return to their 2024 pairings of Kate Fahey/Gabe Tardio and Anna Bright/Hayden Patriquin after reversing those pairings at the season-opening event in Orlando.
The move paid off, as both teams comfortably won to complete the sweep.
Fahey spoke about her partnership with Tardio and their collective goals for the 2025 MLP season.
“We like playing together a lot, and we’re happy to be back on the court together,” she said. “I think we would get up in matches last year and kind of let the lead slip away. When we’re at our best we’re a hard team to beat, so we’re just looking to be a little bit more consistent and get some wins for the Shock.”
Atlanta will look to bounce back against the Carolina Hogs in Friday’s first match, while St. Louis will next take on the Miami Pickleball Club on Friday afternoon.
5:25pm ET: Columbus Sliders (A) v. Phoenix Flames (H): Pre-Match Notes
The hometown favorite Columbus Sliders will face the Phoenix Flames in Thursday’s final bout.
The Sliders are riding a four-match regulation win streak after falling to the New Jersey 5s and Dallas Flash in their first two contests.
On the other side of the net, the Flames are fresh off their first win of the season after a DreamBreaker triumph over the Carolina Hogs earlier Thursday afternoon.
An important note here is that CJ Klinger will not be available for Columbus due to an illness. Roscoe Bellamy will take his place against Phoenix, but Klinger will still be able available to compete for the Sliders this weekend if he feels up to it.
Here are the individual matchups for the match:
- WD: Parris Todd/Lea Jansen (COL) v. Jessie Irvine/Genie Bouchard (PHX)
- MD: Andrei Daescu/Roscoe Bellamy (COL) v. Jack Sock/Tyson McGuffin (PHX)
- MXD 1: Todd/Daescu (COL) v. Irvine/McGuffin (PHX)
- MXD 2: Jansen/Bellamy (COL) v. Bouchard/Sock (PHX)
3:55pm ET: Flames find first win in DreamBreaker thriller
The Phoenix Flames (1-2, 3pts) defeated the Carolina Hogs (0-3, 1pt) in a DreamBreaker for their first win of the 2025 season.
Each team took one win in gender doubles and mixed doubles to bring on the DreamBreaker.
Phoenix triumphed with victories from Jessie Irvine/Genie Bouchard in women’s doubles, as well as Irvine/Tyson McGuffin in mixed. For Carolina, Ben Johns/Collin Johns won men’s doubles before Liz Truluck(filling in for an injured Kaitlyn Christian)/C. Johns won the second mixed doubles match to send the match to extra time.
In that deciding contest, Carolina came out hot and earned a 15-9 lead, thanks to 4-0 rotations from B. Johns and Truluck. From there, though, Bouchard and Irvine had back-to-back 3-1 rotations to bring the score to 15-17 and keep Phoenix in it.
After a crucial 3-1 rotation for McGuffin over C. Johns and a match point save, Bouchard took the court against Truluck with the score at 20-20.
After dropping the first point, the 2014 Wimbledon finalist saved a second match point as part of a three-point run that helped her close out the thrilling encounter by a 23-21 score line.
Bouchard spoke about dealing the pressure with a win on the line.
“Right before running out there, I told my teammates that I was so nervous. I was just trying to set the expectations really low,” she joked. “I’m glad that I was able to focus and play some aggressive pickleball down the stretch.”
Here are the head-to-head scores from the DreamBreaker:
- Jack Sock 5-7 Ben Johns
- Tyson McGuffin 8-4 Collin Johns
- Genie Bouchard 6-6 Liz Truluck
- Jessie Irvine 4-4 Tamaryn Emmrich
The Flames will look to carry the momentum from their first victory into their next match against the Columbus Sliders, which will be Thursday’s final contest. Carolina will next be in action against the Atlanta Bouncers on Friday at 11am ET.
3:30pm ET: Atlanta Bouncers (A) v. St. Louis Shock (H): Pre-Match Notes
The Atlanta Bouncers (1-2, 3pts) will face the St. Louis Shock (2-0, 5pts) in the second match of the day.
Atlanta has dropped their last two matches after starting off the season with a win over the New York Hustlers in Orlando. It won’t get any easier for the Bouncers, however, as the Shock started off the year strong with victories over the Brooklyn Pickleball Team and New Jersey 5s.
New Jersey is also reverting back to their 2024 mixed doubles lineups after using new pairings in Orlando.
Here are the individual matchups for the contest:
- WD: Vivian Glozman/Victoria DiMuzio (ATL) v. Anna Bright/Kate Fahey (STL)
- MD: Jaume Martinez Vich/Todd Fought (ATL) v. Hayden Patriquin/Gabe Tardio (STL)
- MXD 1: Glozman/Martinez Vich (ATL) v. Fahey/Tardio (STL)
- MXD 2: DiMuzio/Fought (ATL) v. Bright/Patriquin (STL)
Carolina Hogs (A) v. Phoenix Flames (H): Pre-Match Notes
The Carolina Hogs (0-2, 0pts) will take on the Phoenix Flames (0-2, 1pt) in a battle of teams looking for their first victory of 2025.
One of the biggest storylines for this match is Liz Truluck filling in for an injured Kaitlyn Christian on Carolina. She will play women's doubles with Tamaryn Emmrich and mixed doubles with Collin Johns.
It is unknown if Truluck will be replacing Christian for all of Carolina's six matches this weekend.
Here are the individual matchups for the contest:
- WD: Tamaryn Emmrich/Liz Truluck (CAR) v. Jessie Irvine/Genie Bouchard (PHX)
- MD: Ben Johns/Collin Johns (CAR) v. Tyson McGuffin/Jack Sock (PHX)
- MXD 1: Emmrich/B. Johns (CAR) v. Irvine/McGuffin (PHX)
- MXD 2: Truluck/C. Johns (CAR) v. Bouchard/Sock (PHX)
Thursday's Order of Play released
Here is the Order of Play for the three matches being played on Sunday:
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