
Shock shine in mixed doubles, capture inaugural MLP Cup title
After winning three matches in the span of seven hours on Sunday, the St. Louis Shock earned the right to hoist the first-ever Edward Jones MLP Cup trophy.
The squad featuring Anna Bright, Kate Fahey, Hayden Patriquin, and Gabe Tardio started their day with a 3-1 victory over the Orlando Squeeze in their final match of pool play.
That win helped them advance to the semifinals, where they swept the always-dangerous Brooklyn Pickleball Team.
Those results set up St. Louis to face the Dallas Flash, who had the support of an enthusiastic hometown crowd.
The two juggernauts faced off twice during the 2025 season, with Dallas taking the win in the Mid-Season Tournament Final and the Shock getting revenge on their home court at MLP St. Louis.
The third installment of the rivalry saw Dallas strike first with Jorja Johnson/Tyra Black’s thrilling 13-11 victory over Anna Bright/Kate Fahey.
From there, though, it was all Shock (and Awe).
Hayden Patriquin/Gabe Tardio downed JW Johnson/Augie Ge 11-7 to even the contest before Bright/Patriquin and Fahey/Tardio combined to outscore the Flash’s mixed doubles pairings 22-7 through the final two games to capture the title.
This is the franchise’s first championship with this starting lineup, all of whom were selected by St. Louis in the 2024 draft.
Team captain Anna Bright spoke about how good it feels to finally bring a trophy to St. Louis after having narrowly missed out on the season-long titles in 2024 and 2025.
“I’m so impressed by all the Flash fans this week, but we also have an amazing contingent rooting for us and pulling for us back in St. Louis,” she said. “I feel like we’ve kind of been a tease for them, so it feels good to know that we put ourselves in a good position to pull through.
“We went 27-1 this year, and it was a heartbreaker for us in Central Park,” added Shock owner Richard Chaifetz. “I felt terrible for the team when we couldn’t win that tournament there, so to comeback for this event and win it all, I think it just says a lot about the great determination of this team. I’m so proud of them. They’re just winners. They’re great people They play together well. They have tremendous chemistry, and I couldn’t be prouder to be the owner of this team.”
In the Challenger bracket, the California Black Bears (Layne Sleeth, Lina Padegimaite, Michael Loyd, Martin Emmrich) swept the D.C. Pickleball Team 3-0 to claim the title.
All of this weekend’s victors should have plenty of confidence going into the Jenius Bank Pickleball World Championships, which will begin on Tuesday with main draw action.
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