In front of a national audience on FOX on Sunday afternoon, the St. Louis Shock claimed the title at the Edward Jones MLP Mid-Season Tournament with a 3-0 sweep of the New Jersey 5s. 

New Jersey swept St. Louis when they last met at MLP Columbus in May, but St. Louis flipped the script in front of a sold-out crowd at Belknap Park as they cruised to their 15th straight victory. 

The Shock’s Anna Bright/Kate Fahey kicked things off with a statement 11-6 victory over the 5s’ undefeated pairing of Anna Leigh Waters/Jorja Johnson, who entered Sunday with a 25-0 record. 

“Jorja and Anna Leigh are by far the number one women’s team in MLP, but we played really, really well. We came out with a specific game plan, and it started working. To hit the ball to Anna Leigh is a little bit scary, so we were definitely trying to avoid that,” Fahey explained afterwards. 

And avoiding hitting to Waters is exactly what they did, as the Shock effectively iced out the world’s best female player and sent nearly every ball to Johnson, which proved to be a winning recipe. 

“It definitely requires discipline and patience. I think it also requires perhaps a lack of pride to an extent, just to kind of say, ‘We’re going to do this, and we’re going to commit to this game plan,” Bright said of the strategy. “It was pretty obvious what we were doing, but it worked.” 

Hayden Patriquin/Gabe Tardio followed suit in men’s doubles, as they took down New Jersey’s Noe Khlif/Will Howells 11-3 to capture their ninth straight win as a partnership. 

And from there, Bright/Patriquin sealed the sweep with an 11-8 win over Waters/Khlif to earn the right to hoist the trophy after falling in the final of last year’s tournament to the Dallas Flash. 

For Shock owner and chairman Richard Chaifetz, Sunday’s triumph felt like destiny. 

“I woke up this morning, and I knew our team was locked in. We were prepared for destiny today,” he said. “This team, when they are ready to play and they’re clicking on all cylinders, will beat anybody. I’m incredibly proud of them.” 

St. Louis will also earn ten standings points for winning the mid-season crown, while New Jersey will receive six for getting second place. 

As a result, both teams will be tied for the top spot in the standings at 93 standings points with one regular season event remaining for both squads. 

It’s worth noting, though, that St. Louis would hold the tiebreaker if the season were to end today because they have a better win rate across their regular season matches (91% v. 86% for New Jersey). 

In the third-place match, the Columbus Sliders defeated the Los Angeles Mad Drops 3-1 to secure a podium finish and earn the four standings points that come with it. 

After a memorable week in Michigan, the MLP season continues with MLP San Diego, which will run July 16-19 at Barnes Tennis Center in Southern California. 

Get tickets here, and catch all the action on Pickleballtv.