The 2025 MLP season has been filled with exciting matches, interesting team dynamics, and hard-fought DreamBreakers. The teams have now played, on average, half of their 2025 schedule. It’s time for mid-term grades for each team.

 

16. SoCal Hard Eights. 2-12 record, 0.50 points per game, 1-2 in DBs. Currently tied for 15th place. Preseason prediction: 15th place. SoCal has been as expected. They lack any top talent, but this is a try hard team. Blaine Hovenier in particular brings lots of energy. Grade: D for quality of play, but A for effort.

 

15. Carolina Hogs. 2-12, 0.50, 1-2 (DB), tied for 15th. Preseason prediction: 12th place. Carolina was not expected to do much, but they have not met even low expectations. Tammy Emmrich tries hard, but she is just not a Premier Level player. Ben and Collin Johns give uneven effort. Grade: D-

 

14. New York Hustlers. 3-10, 0.62, 1-0 (DB), 14th place. Preseason prediction: 16th place. New York is pretty much who we thought they were. Their highest ranked player is 55th. They have no particular strengths and were forced to play a number of matches without Zane Ford, their best player. Grade: C-

 

13. Phoenix Flames. 3-11, 0.64, 3-3 (DB), 13th place. Preseason prediction: 13th place. Almost half of Phoenix’s matches have gone to a DreamBreaker, so they at least provide some excitement. But Genie Bouchard is arguably the worst player in Premier, with a 4-22 record. Jack Sock is good in a DreamBreaker, but like Bouchard he is not a good enough doubles player to warrant a spot in Premier. Phoenix would improve by dropping Bouchard for Helena Jansen on waivers or dropping Sock for Roscoe Bellamy or Michael Loyd or Erik Lange. Tyson McGuffin and Jessie Irvine have played steady pickleball, giving the team what chances they do have for wins. Grade: D+

 

12. Atlanta Bouncers. 4-11, 0.80, 1-1 (DB), 12th place. Preseason prediction: 10th place. Atlanta has been a disappointment. The Viv Glozman/Victoria DiMuzio pairing just was not working, so they traded Glozman for Viv David. DiMuzio has not improved as much as expected. The effort and results from the men has been uneven. They are only four points out of a playoff spot, so hope remains, but right now this team seems kind of listless. Grade: C-

 

11. Chicago Slice. 4-10, 1.00, 2-4 (DB). Preseason prediction: 9th place. Chicago’s trade for Glozman should help them. Glozman/Callie Smith is a decent pairing for women’s doubles. The weak spot so far has been Max Freeman. He is 8-20, and ranked 61st. I had questioned that pick in the draft, and it is still a question. I would rather have Bellamy, Loyd, or Lange, but I do not expect Chicago to change. Oddly, Freeman should help with DreamBreakers, but Chicago has lost more DreamBreakers than any other team. Like Atlanta, Chicago has time to make the top 10, but they need to do better at DreamBreakers to make it. Grade: C

 

10. Miami Pickleball Club. 6-9, 1.07, 3-1 (DB). Preseason prediction: 14th place. Miami has arguably been the most pleasant surprise at the midway point of MLP 2025. Jay Devilliers looks healthy and has played well. Noe Khlif and Milan Rane are soild. The team is slightly held back by Mya Bui. I did not think she was a Premier player before the draft, and I have seen nothing to change my mind. I would trade for Zoey Wang or Mari Humberg, or pick up Helena Jansen by waivers. Miami currently sits in the last playoff spot, but I think Chicago or Atlanta will catch them. Grade: A-

 

9. Utah Black Diamonds. 6-9, 1.27, 1-2 (DB). Preseason prediction: 11th place. Utah has also been a pleasant surprise. After starting slowly, Utah changed out Mehvish Safdar and inserted Genie Erokhina. I suggested this exact move in my preseason column, and it has paid off. Tyler Loong, Connor Garnett, and Allyce Jones are all high effort players. Erokhina brought more talent to the 4th spot, and this team is now a tough out. Their talent cannot match the top teams, but no one particularly wants to play them, as demonstrated by Utah’s DreamBreaker own over New Jersey. Utah will make the playoffs and there they hope to pull an upset. Grade: B+

 

 

8. Columbus Sliders. 7-4, 1.82, 1-0 (DB). Preseason prediction: 5th place. Columbus has been limited by the absence for many matches of CJ Klinger. Klinger’s skill and enthusiasm for MLP is a big part of Columbus, so his absence has hurt a lot. Fortunately for Columbus, they have played the fewest matches of any team to date. When they are at full strength, they should still be a top 5 team. Expect them to catch up to Orlando, Texas, and possibly LA before season’s end. They remain a dangerous team that has the talent to win it all. Grade: Incomplete.

 

7. Orlando Squeeze. 10-5, 1.87, 2-0 (DB). Preseason prediction: 8th place. Orlando got off to a fast start, but cooled as expected once they started playing top teams. The Federico Staksrud/Dylan Frazier combo is very good, and Lacy Schneemann is solid, but best suited as the #2 woman on a team. Samantha Parker has played better than I expected, but she is still a low level Premier player at best. MLP teams tend to go as far as their women can carry them, and Orlando has the weakest women of any top 8 team. Accordingly, expect them to fade a little bit more before season’s end. They should still finish 8th, but with a lower points per game. Grade: B-

 

6. Texas Ranchers. 8-6, 1.93, 0-3 (DB). Preseason prediction: 6th place. Texas is right where I thought they would be, but I never expected the level of inconsistency they have shown. Eric Oncins has been pretty good and steady, but Christian Alshon and Etta Tuionetoa have been all over the place. Alshon sometimes plays like the very top player he is, then the next match he loses to a much lesser team. He ultimately sat out the last match in Daytona, so there may be an injury issue there. Tuionetoa has been very uneven, sometimes showing the talent she displayed in 2023 and early 2024, other times she plays like a Challenger Level player. Tina Pisnik is a solid player, but she plays very passively and that style is just not going to work in 2025. Tuionetoa and Pisnik are both weak in DreamBreakers, so when Alshon is not getting Dreambreaker points, this team is getting run over. They need to somehow turn it around, but how they will do it is unclear. If I was Texas, I would look for a trade, trying to send Pisnik for a better singles player, maybe Parris Todd or Lacy Schneemann. Grade: B-

 

5. LA Mad Drops. 10-4, 2.00, 3-1 (DB). Preseason prediction: 7th place. LA has been handicapped by having less than their full roster for much of the year. They were at full strength in Daytona and they won all their matches. LA is being led by Catherine Parenteau and Jade Kawamoto. Kawamoto has played especially well to date. Hunter Johnson and Quang Duong are the weakest men’s doubles team of any of the top teams, but if the women can keep winning, LA just wants to win one of the other three matches to get to a DreamBreaker. LA has one of, if not the best DreamBreaker squad, and you can see their confidence in singles. Because LA plays so many DreamBreakers, they will have trouble hanging on to the 5th spot in the standings. Teams like Brooklyn and Columbus that are better at doubles will win more matches 3-1 or 4-0 and net the full three team points. Expect LA to finish 6th or 7th and be a challenging team to play in the playoffs. Grade: A-

 

4. Brooklyn Pickleball Team. 7-4, 2.09, 0-2 (DB). Preseason prediction: 4th place. Brooklyn is who we thought they were. They run out four strong doubles teams, but they are the worst top team at DreamBreakers. Brooklyn and LA are opposites of each other. Brooklyn has to win 3-1 (or 4-0) or they are pretty much done. Riley Newman got injured at MLP Phoenix, but Pat Smith is about as perfect a sub as you will ever find. Brooklyn needs Newman long term, but if Smith has to fill in at MLP San Clemente, they will be ok. Brooklyn will be a soild team in the playoffs, but it is hard to see them winning it all with that weakness at DreamBreakers. Grade: B

 

3. New Jersey 5’s. 12-3, 2.40, 2-2 (DBs). Preseason prediction: 3rd place. New Jersey is right where we expected them. They play too many DreamBrearers to likely catch Dallas or St. Louis for one of the two top spots. Surprisingly, they have lost two of the four DreamBreakers they have played. Meghan Dizon is playing better, but Anna Leigh Waters has looked a little human so far. In the end, this team will be fine. They will finish third in the standings and a first playoff matchup with LA would be a wonderful match to see. Grade: B+

 

2. St Louis Shock. 13-1, 2.79, 1-1 (DB). Preseason prediction: 2nd place. Overall, St. Louis has lived up to expectations. Kate Fahey has played better, but she needs to improve a bit more for this team to fire on all cylinders. Anna Bright, Hayden Patriquin, and Gabe Tardio have all played well (as you can see from the team record), but I think they would all admit they have not played their best so far. This team can improve. They are going to fight Dallas all the way for the top playoff seed. Grade: A-

 

1. Dallas Flash. 14-0, 2.86, 2-0 (DB). Preseason prediction: 1st place. What can you say about Dallas? 14-0 is 14-0. Jorja Johnson has been the MVP of this year so far. Johnson and Tyra Black did look vulnerable in their 11-3 loss to Parenteau/Kawamoto, but the team still won the match 3-1. Dallas, St. Louis, and Brooklyn are the only teams that can run out four strong doubles teams. Dallas then also is a top DreamBreaker team. It would be no surprise if Dallas repeats as champion. Certainly, a Dallas v. St Louis final would be epic. Grade: A+

 

The fight for the 10th and last spot is going to go to the last event, and it is going to be very close. Similarly, the fight for playoff positioning in the top eight is going to be tough all year. But the match to watch for is when Dallas and St. Louis play in the regular season. That one match could well determine who finishes first and second in the regular season. It will all play out on Pickleballtv and I know I will be watching it.

 

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