The New Jersey 5s are just 2-2 against the St. Louis Shock this season, but their second win against their rivals came in their highest-stakes meeting of the campaign on Zipfizz Super Sunday at Amway MLP Orlando, the final event before the postseason.

With the regular season title on the line and top seed in the playoffs up for grabs, the 5s secured a 3-1 victory over a Shock squad that had swept them 3-0 just three weeks earlier in the final of the Mid-Season Tournament.

After that loss, New Jersey made a blockbuster trade with the Orlando Squeeze to bring in Federico Staksrud and Milly Rane, a transaction in which they paid Orlando $400K.

That move paid off handsomely on Sunday in the Sunshine State.

Anna Leigh Waters/Jorja Johnson started off the revenge tour with an 11-5 victory over Anna Bright/Kate Fahey, who handed the pairing their first loss as a partnership in their previous meeting.

The Shock’s men’s doubles pairing of Hayden Patriquin/Gabe Tardio evened the contest with an 11-5 win over Federico Staksrud/Will Howells, improving their 2026 record a league-best 28-4 mark.

In the first mixed doubles game, Bright/Patriquin took the court against Waters and Noe Khlif, who did not play men’s doubles on Sunday with Staksrud in the lineup.

Bright/Patriquin won their previous meeting 11-8 and got out to a 7-1 lead on Sunday, but Waters/Khlif clawed all the way back—saving several game points along the way—to win a feisty, chirp-filled affair by a 15-13 score line.

That win closed out an undefeated weekend for Waters/Khlif and brought their season record to a league-best 29-3, but it’s how they’ve won their most recent contests that deserves more attention.

Here are the scorelines from Waters/Khlif’s last 3 games in Orlando:

•          Def. Tina Pisnik/Dekel Bar (PBR) 13-11
•          Def. Jade Kawamoto/Ben Johns (LA) 12-10
•          Def. Anna Bright/Hayden Patriquin (STL) 15-13

Those wins—all coming after being down game point(s)—speak to the clutch play of both players and should serve the pairing well as they look forward to more high-pressure moments in the postseason.

Up 2-1 and energized after their teammates’ triumph, Jorja Johnson/Federico Staksrud returned to the court and dominated Kate Fahey/Gabe Tardio 11-2 to seal the win for New Jersey and earn the 5s the top seed going into the postseason.

Staksrud, who faced considerable pressure to come in and make an immediate impact for the 5s, spoke about the challenges he faced throughout this event and gave a touching breakdown of the perspective with which he competes at the highest levels of professional pickleball.

“This means a lot. It was a constant battle with myself mentally. It wasn’t easy to play for a new team, especially the New Jersey 5s, where winning is the only option, but today I woke up and just told myself to have fun because in 5-10 years, if you don’t have fun in these moments, you’re going to regret it,” he mentioned. “I just wanted to have fun and enjoy every moment and remember this for my whole life.”

5s co-owner and GM Ryan Harwood applauded his team for meshing so well so quickly ahead of the final regular season event.

“We have six very high-quality starting players, and they have made personal sacrifices and have come together as a unit in a very short period of time. We did not have a lot of time to prepare for this, and everyone came together and did exactly what was asked of them with no shenanigans,” he said. “I couldn’t be more proud of them for being a team because they play an individual sport usually [on the PPA Tour], and it is very difficult for three months to come together and put aside them playing each other all year long and actually be a team, and that’s what’s required to win MLP.”

Despite the excitement surrounding Sunday’s triumph, Harwood knows that the tests are just beginning for New Jersey.

“We are far from satisfied,” he affirmed. “This is one minor step along the way. We’ve got a long playoff journey ahead of us right now, but we are going to celebrate today.”

With the top postseason seed secured, the New Jersey will get to choose their opponents for each round of the playoffs and will be the designated ‘Home’ team in each matchup, which means that they will be able to react to their opponents’ mixed doubles pairings and DreamBreaker lineups.

New Jersey will get to enjoy those privileges when they return to action in the postseason quarterfinals, which begin August 14 in Newport Beach, CA, after next week’s opening playoff round in Dallas, TX.

Here’s a look at the final standings from Orlando:

1. 1. New Jersey 5s: 25 points
2. 2. St. Louis Shock: 18 points
3. 3. Los Angeles Mad Drops: 15 points
4. 4. Brooklyn Pickleball Team: 12 points
5. 5. Palm Beach Royals: 10 points
6. 6. Las Vegas Night Owls: 8 points
7. 7. Chicago Slice: 6 points
8. 8. Miami Pickleball Club: 4 points
9. 9. California Black Bears: 1 point
10. 10. Orlando Squeeze: 1 point
11. 11. Phoenix Flames: 0 points
12. 12. Carolina Hogs: 0 points

And here is a look at the 12 teams who made the postseason. Special credit to the Chicago Slice, who reeled off back-to-back DreamBreaker wins on Saturday and Sunday to clinch the 12th and final qualifying spot:

• 1. New Jersey 5s: 118 points
• 2. St. Louis Shock: 111 points
• 3. Los Angeles Mad Drops: 86 points
• 4. Columbus Sliders: 83 points
• 5. Brooklyn Pickleball Team: 78 points
• 6. Dallas Flash: 72 points
• 7. Palm Beach Royals: 54 points
• 8. Texas Ranchers: 48 points
• 9. Atlanta Bouncers: 36 points
• 10. SoCal Hard Eights: 34 points (42% match win rate)
• 11. Las Vegas Night Owls: 34 points (39% win rate)
• 12. Chicago Slice: 33 points

The first round of the playoffs featuring seeds 5-12 begins August 7 with the MLP Dallas Playoffs presented by Eisneramper.

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