Andrei Daescu celebrating a victory for the Columbus Sliders at the DoorDash MLP Finals in New York City.
Andrei Daescu celebrating a victory for the Columbus Sliders at the DoorDash MLP Finals in New York City.  Major League Pickleball

Sliders outduel Shock in DreamBreaker to advance to Premier championship

The Columbus Sliders became the first team to advance to the Premier level championship with a DreamBreaker victory over the top-seeded St. Louis Shock early Friday evening.

Columbus surprisingly swept the top seeds 3-0 in the day’s first match and followed that up with their third DreamBreaker win of the postseason to keep their championship hopes alive.

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Both of the Sliders’ playoff opponents—the Shock and the defending champion Dallas Flash—actually chose to play the No. 5 seeds when they had the option of facing other teams.

The strategy obviously hasn’t paid off, as Columbus has now knocked off the top two seeds in back-to-back rounds

“It’s been an incredible journey—a wild journey—but that’s professional sports for you,” said team captain Andrei Daescu, who outscored Gabe Tardio 7-3 in the DreamBreaker to help lift Columbus to a 21-13 triumph. “Obviously we just beat a really good team. They competed really hard, but it was another great team effort from our guys. The job is not done, but we’re gonna enjoy this one and regroup and go for the championship tomorrow and Sunday."

The Sliders will face either the New Jersey 5s or Los Angeles Mad Drops in the first match of the championship series on Saturday.