
MLP Waiver Update: Hustlers claim Di Laura, Hogs get Bellamy; youngsters Campbell, Goins added
In the second and final Premier level waiver period of the season, the New York Hustlers (3-10, 8pts) and Carolina Hogs (2-12, 7pts) were the only teams to claim players from other squads.
New York claimed Felicity Di Laura from the St. Louis Shock and dropped Lingwei Kong. To refill their roster, the Shock added 15-year-old Cailyn Campbell, who signed with the UPA on June 10.
Carolina claimed Roscoe Bellamy from the SoCal Hard Eights and dropped Brandon French. To refill their roster, the Hard Eights added 17-year-old John Lucian Goins.
SoCal was the only other team to submit a waiver bid by the June 12 deadline but chose not to select anyone.
Every Premier team is able to request a bench player replacement by June 17 at noon ET.
The lone Challenger level waiver period will take place on June 18, where all six teams will have two rounds during which they can claim new players.
Let’s get into how these moves impact each roster.
New York Hustlers: Zane Ford, Donald Young, Stephen Madonia, Dominique Schaefer, Felicity Di Laura, Helena Spiridis
Di Laura joins the Hustlers after being taken 25th overall by St. Louis in the free agency draft. She never played a match for the Shock but has been building momentum in recent months.
She won women’s doubles gold alongside Tatiana Ruhl at the Baton Rouge PPA Challenger back in April and made the Round of 16 in women’s singles at the most recent PPA Tour event in Atlanta before falling to Lea Jansen in three games.
The former All-American tennis player out of Texas Tech is still a raw talent, but she seems to be rapidly improving and could prove to be a hugely valuable pickup for New York.
Di Laura will play women’s doubles with Dominique Schaefer. They played together in Atlanta and made the Round of 32. I expect her to play mixed doubles with Donald Young once he is back from injury, since Schaefer and Ford have been playing together at past MLP events.
Adding Di Laura will, perhaps most importantly, make New York a stronger DreamBreaker team with four players whose best results have come on the singles court. Di Laura should be an excellent No. 2 option behind Schaefer in the DreamBreaker lineup.
The trouble, of course, is getting to that point in a match.
With that being said, this will only put more pressure on other teams—especially those that aren’t constructed for DreamBreakers—to beat New York in regulation, which could potentially lead to more upsets during the second half of the season,
The Hustlers will next be in action at MLP New York, scheduled for July 3-6.
Carolina Hogs: Ben Johns, Collin Johns, Roscoe Bellamy, Kaitlyn Christian, Tammy Emmrich, Liz Truluck
Carolina will be the third team that Bellamy has been on this season.
After initially being drafted by the Columbus Sliders 32nd overall in the free agency draft and posting a 4-6 record while replacing CJ Klinger at MLP Columbus, he was claimed by the SoCal Hard Eights during the first waiver period.
Due to a foot injury, however, he never took the court for SoCal before being claimed again on Monday.
As long as the Hogs continue to roster both Johns brothers, it’s unlikely that we see Bellamy get the start over Collin Johns. I would actually give Bellamy a slight edge in mixed and a larger advantage in singles, but I expect Ben’s familiarity with Collin to outweigh any movement to change things up.
The Hogs’ next event will be MLP New York, set for July 3-6.
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