Next up is MLP New York, beginning Thursday. As usual, we have 11 teams split into two groups. We are back to using two courts, so the format is Thursday to Sunday. The top teams this week are New Jersey and hometown Brooklyn. Can anyone pull an upset and crash the party?

 

 

Group A consists of five teams: New Jersey, Texas, Chicago, SoCal, and Las Vegas. New Jersey is far and away the class of this pool, and it would be a major upset if they do not go 4-0. Indeed, if New Jersey wins all 16 games they play over four matches, no one will be surprised. The main thing to watch with New Jersey is how Noe Khlif and Will Howells play. Anna Leigh Waters and Jorja Johnson have been rock solid so far, and there is no reason to doubt that they will dominate again. But, Khlif and Howells have been inconsistent at best. They have some good wins, but also some ugly losses. Khlif in particular needs to be more aggressive. If the men do not play well, New Jersey can be pushed to a DreamBreaker, which is always a bit unpredictable.

 

Texas is a solid playoff team. They currently sit in 7th place, right about where they were predicted to be preseason. Texas ran into some player illness issues last time out that dropped them to an 8th place finish at MLP St. Petersburg. When at full strength, Texas is good enough to beat all but the very top teams. I look for them to bounce back with a good week.

 

Chicago is similar to Texas, although overall not quite as deep or as good. They sit in 9th place and need to keep up their pace to lock down a playoff spot. Their lineup is Zane Navratil, Hunter Johnson, Mari Humberg, and Jamie Wei. Navratil continues to play better at MLP than he does at PPA, and he is a solid leader of the team. Chicago has played well as a team, but lack the talent to really challenge for a higher spot. They need to beat SoCal and Las Vegas to show they belong as a middle of the pack playoff team.

 

SoCal is an interesting team, mixing youth with veterans. Their starters are Armaan Bhatia, Will MacKinnon, Meghan Dizon, and Cailyn Campbell. They also sometimes play Rafa Lenhard. SoCal has played two events, finishing 10th in one and 4th in the other. Those finishes reflect how they have played: inconsistently. MacKinnon and Campbell have a lot of talent, but are very up and down. Bhatia is steady, but can be negatively affected if his partner misses a few shots. Dizon has never quite gotten back to the level she was in 2024. SoCal could finish anywhere from 3d to 11th in this event.

 

The final team in Group A is Las Vegas. Vegas just made a trade and their new starting lineup will be Clayton Powell, Roscoe Bellamy, Zoey Wang, and Callie Smith. They also have Liz Truluck and Braden Jacobson, who have played sporadically. Interesting that Vegas would trade Hovenier for Powell. Hovenier was their team captain and a very positive force on the court. I suspect this move is to create more opportunities for Jacobson to take the court. Jacobson is a young up and comer, and Vegas will want to give him more playing time to evaluate him as a potential keeper for 2027.

 

 

Group B is more competitive for the top spot than Group A, and thus more unpredictable. Group B has Brooklyn, Palm Beach, Dallas, Bay Area, Florida, and Carolina. Brooklyn is the team to beat, but Palm Beach played well at MLP St. Petersburg with an injured lineup. Can Palm Beach pull the upset this week?

 

Brooklyn starts Christian Alshon, Riley Newman, Rachel Rohrabacher, and Jackie Kawamoto. Brooklyn has two third place finishes so far, and has settled into the #5 spot in the standings, exactly where they were projected pre-season. They will very likely finish second or third this week, further cementing their position. They are strong enough to consistently beat the weaker teams, but just cannot quite beat any of the top four teams. 

 

Palm Beach will challenge Brooklyn in this group. Their normal starters are Dekel Bar, Tyson McGuffin, Tina Pisnik, and Sofia Sewing. They have been hit hard by injuries on the men’s side, and it is unclear who they will play this week. Palm Beach just picked up Casey Diamond on waivers, and he played for Palm Beach last week. This team is led by the strong showing to date of their women’s doubles team. They were undefeated at MLP St. Petersburg. Can they do it again in New York? Starting with a win at women’s doubles is a huge advantage, but if Bar or McGuffin are out, Diamond may not be strong enough to compensate.

 

Dallas should finish third in the group. Dallas has made a series of moves this year, some of which were head-scratchers. They currently have JW Johnson, Augie Ge, Brooke Buckner, and Danni-Elle Townsend. They also added Alix Truong recently. The new roster has not yet played an event, so it is unclear who they will start, Buckner or Truong? They paid a lot to get Buckner, but Truong has played better at doubles lately. The personnel strategy for Dallas is a mess, but the team has some talent. Depending on how they gel, the team could certainly do better than expected.

 

Bay Area has a new roster, due to trades. They now have Pablo Tellez, Blaine Hovenier, Genie Erokhina, and Mya Bui. Hovenier will bring his energy to the team and should fit in. The issue is on the women’s side where the talent level is not great.

 

Florida has Chris Crouch, Cason Campbell, Zoey Weil, and Martina Frantova. They also just added Connor Mogle, and Paula Rives also plays. Florida sits in 18th place, slightly better than their preseason ranking of #20. The Florida women’s doubles team has been the surprise. While we knew Weil had some talent, the catalyst has been Frantova. She looked to potentially be the weakest female player in all of MLP, and she has played better than expected. Florida did only garner one standing point at MLP St. Petersburg, so perhaps they are settling back to expectations. They do benefit this week from Carolina being in their pool. Can Florida get a win against anyone besides Carolina?

 

Finally, the Carolina Hogs bring up the rear in this pool, and all of MLP. Carolina has Nicole Conard, Aiko Yoshitomi, Abbigal Hatton, Brandon French, DJ Young, and Michael Loyd. Carolina typically does not pay travel expenses for its players, so predicting who will play in each event is tricky. Either way, no one on Carolina has played well. Their highest ranked player is #79. Carolina is likely to go 0-5, and could even get swept in every match.

 

 

If New Jersey does not win Group A, it will be one of the biggest upsets in MLP history. Indeed, if New Jersey does not win first place overall, it will be a big upset. Texas, Chicago, SoCal, and Vegas are all capable of beating each other, so a scramble in Group A for second through fifth will be on the menu. I like Texas to get second, but they are not an overwhelming favorite to do so. Brooklyn is the class of Group B, but Palm Beach is capable of an upset. Even Dallas, as poorly managed as they have been, has some talent and thus is capable of surprising people. Brooklyn, Palm Beach, and Dallas should finish top three in their pool, in some order. Bay Area and Florida will battle, but either finishing in the top three in their pool would be a good accomplishment. Carolina is hopeless; if they win a match the rest of the year, it will be a significant upset.

 

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