Much was made of the Los Angeles Mad Drops’ choice to play the Dallas Flash in the MLP playoff quarterfinals, but Friday’s first match of the series showed that they might have made the right decision.

The Ben Johns-led squad put an end to the Flash’s 13-match winning streak with a 3-1 victory at the Tennis and Pickleball Club at Newport Beach, the site of this week’s action in Southern California.

Dallas had won the most recent meeting between the two teams in a DreamBreaker just under a month ago in San Diego and took the opening women’s doubles bout on Friday, but LA turned the tide by taking the next three games to take command of the best two-out-of-three match series.

Here are the game-by-game results:

• WD: Danni-Elle Townsend/Alix Truong (DAL) def. Catherine Parenteau/Jade Kawamoto (LA) 11-8
• MD: Ben Johns/Max Freeman (LA) def. JW Johnson/Augie Ge (DAL) 11-9
• MXD 1: Kawamoto/Johns (LA) def. Brooke Buckner/Johnson (DAL) 11-6
• MXD 2: Parenteau/Connor Garnett (LA) def. Townsend/Ge (DAL) 11-6

The biggest individual difference came from Johns; he went 0-2 in LA’s last clash against Dallas (getting outscored 4-22 in the process), but he went 2-0 on Friday with the pressure of the postseason in full effect.

“We went into it after the selection knowing that they’re a dangerous team,” Johns told Pickleballtv’s Ireland Horvat. “We were 1-1 with them in the regular season, and they beat a lot of good teams, so we knew it was going to be tough. Of course, in anyone’s mind you want to win 3-0, but we’re more than satisfied with the 3-1. We went to a DreamBreaker with them last time we played them, and I think all four matches can go either way, but we’re obviously happy to take it away before the DreamBreaker.

Another welcome sight for LA was a particularly strong performance from the pairing of Parenteau and Garnett in mixed doubles.

The Mad Drops acquired Garnett from the Utah Black Diamonds right before the trade deadline to play a strong left side in mixed doubles alongside Parenteau, who had been playing next to the lefty Max Freeman.

Parenteau said she feels much more comfortable playing the right side in mixed.

 “Sometimes playing the left in mixed is just a different game, and I’m feeling a little bit more comfortable on the right side now,” she noted. “I’m looking forward to seeing what Connor and I can do for the team for the rest of the season.”

In Friday’s other contest, the St. Louis Shock swept the Texas Ranchers 3-0 to strike first in their quarterfinal series.

Match 2 of both series will take place on Saturday on Pickleballtv, with coverage starting at 10am PT before moving to FS1 at 4pm PT.