
Mad Drops take down Sliders, finish first at MLP Dallas
The Los Angeles Mad Drops (Ben Johns, Jade Kawamoto, Max Freeman, Catherine Parenteau, Gabe Joseph, Genie Bouchard) defeated the Columbus Sliders 3-1 to win MLP Dallas, the first event of the 2026 Major League Pickleball season.
The Sliders struck first with Danni-Elle Townsend/Alix Truong’s 13-11 victory over Parenteau/Kawamoto, but Los Angeles went on to win the men’s doubles and both mixed doubles games to earn the event title belt.
With this win, the Mad Drops earn 25 standings points and claim the top spot in the standings as the only team to go undefeated in the Lone Star State.
Though Sunday’s triumph was certainly sweet, this week wasn’t always smooth sailing for Los Angeles.
In their final group play match against the St. Louis Shock, they trailed 0-2 before coming back to take both mixed doubles games and win the DreamBreaker by a 21-15 score line.
That effort set them up to win the opening event of the season less than 24 hours later.
Here’s a look at the full standings from Dallas:
- 1. Los Angeles Mad Drops: 25 points
- 2. Columbus Sliders: 18 points
- 3. St. Louis Shock: 15 points
- 4. New Jersey 5s: 12 points
- 5. Dallas Flash: 10 points
- 6. Texas Ranchers: 8 points
- 7. Orlando Squeeze: 6 points
- 8. Utah Black Diamonds: 4 points
- 9. Bay Area Breakers: 1 point
- 10. Phoenix Flames: 1 point
- 11. Carolina Hogs: 0 points
Four of those teams (Columbus, St. Louis, New Jersey, Carolina) will be in action at the upcoming MLP Columbus, which begins Thursday, May 28.
Buy tickets for MLP Columbus here, and follow the action live on Pickleballtv.
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