The St. Louis Shock and New Jersey 5s advanced to the semifinals of the Edward Jones MLP Mid-Season Tournament with regulation victories on Saturday morning.

St. Louis kicked off the day’s action with a 3-0 sweep of the Texas Ranchers, highlighted by Kate Fahey/Gabe Tardio’s epic 14-12 win over Tina Pisnik/Eric Oncins in the first mixed doubles game to close out the match.

They nearly lost after having game points at 10-5, but Fahey says that Tardio’s support in the big moments helped them regroup and get the job done.

“Towards the end, I wasn’t feeling my best,” she admitted. “I was missing some shots that I don’t usually miss, but with Gabe, we have so much trust in each other. He just told me to play my game and was super positive, and I think that’s what really led us to the win.”

The Shock will next face the New Jersey 5s, who picked up a hard-fought 3-1 victory over the Miami Pickleball Club in the day’s second quarterfinal.

After Anna Leigh Waters/Meghan Dizon put the 5s on the board with a win in women’s doubles, Miami's Noe Khlif/Yuta Funemizu evened the contest with an 11-5 victory over Will Howells/Zane Navratil in men’s doubles.

Not deterred, Howells and Navratil regrouped to help lead New Jersey to two mixed doubles wins to secure the team’s spot in the final four.

“[Noe and Yuta] were super solid. I think we came out with the wrong game plan in that one, but going into mixed, we came out with a lot more energy and intensity, and really just went after it when it mattered,” Howells said of his mixed doubles performance alongside Waters.

These results set up a tantalizing semifinal between St. Louis and New Jersey in what will be a rematch of a heated contest from the season’s first event in Orlando, where chaos erupted after Hayden Patriquin used offensive language aimed at Waters.

You can catch the next installment of that rivalry, as well as the first semifinal between the Dallas Flash and Columbus Sliders, on Pickleballtv.