Top 3 overall storylines:

• Ticked off St. Louis Shock return home without an event win in Dallas or Columbus - will home cooking be the difference at Chaifetz Arena? 

• Brooklyn Pickleball Team and SoCal Hard 8s enter the fray - are they at a disadvantage as some teams have played in one or both of the first 2 events?

• Will Ben Johns put the Mad Drops on his back again and carry them to another winning weekend and 25 standings points?

Storylines per team competing in St. Louis: 

Group A:

Brooklyn Pickleball Team: Christian Alshon traded back to some familiar teammates. He was MVP when they won an event in ‘23 with Riley Newman and Jackie Kawamoto as the DC Pickleball Team. Will this familiarity serve them well as they play their first event? And will Jackie Kawamoto and Rachel Rohrabacher be as good as expected with the potential to consistently deliver a lead to Brooklyn after women’s doubles?

Las Vegas Night Owls: Finished 5th in Columbus, winning the 3 vs. 3 matchup and securing 10 points. Can they finish at least 3rd again? How will they utilize the women on the roster - rotated Callie Smith, Liz Truluck, and Zoey Wang in OH? And can the energy from Blaine Hovenier continue to drive winning results for the Night Owls?

LA Mad Drops: Started the season with a bang, winning the opener in Dallas in impressive fashion. The Ben Johns takeover extravaganza buoyed the entire roster and that must continue for them to beat the top teams. Two questions remain: can Catherine Parenteau maintain her elite level from Dallas and how much consistency can Max Freeman find as he fits in next to his new teammates?

Phoenix Flames: Young team seeks their first match win on the season after a tough start to the year in Dallas. However… they made a smart trade to bring in Alix Truong to pair with her brother Jonathan - will she make a big difference after playing so well in Dallas for the Sliders? And will Daria Walczak be healthy enough to play?

SoCal Hard Eights: Another team counting on youngsters to perform as they make their season debut in St. Louis. Cailyn Campbell has shown tremendous improvement and high end potential - can she reach it playing with the veteran Meghan Dizon? And on the men’s side, the youngster Will Mackinnon and Armaan Bhatia are a duo with lots of potential but both prefer the left side - who plays where? And does Rafa Lenhard get a chance in doubles or will he be strictly a singles specialist? 

Utah Black Diamonds: Do 15 year olds get jet lagged or tired? Tama Shimabukuro left Dallas, flew to Asia for PPA Macao, won singles and doubles (with Bhatia) and will be back next to Connor Garnett for the Black Diamonds. Will he have a full tank? And how’s the health of Allyce Jones after the injury from one of her all-effort dives in Dallas? 

Group B:

Atlanta Bouncers: Lost the 3 vs. 3 matchup with the Las Vegas Night Owls to leave Columbus with 8 standings points. Will the mixed pairs stay the same with Jessie Irvine playing with Jaume Martinez Vich and Jay Devilliers playing with Kaitlyn Christian? Both Christian and Irvine look to improve on a 3-9 match record from Columbus. 

Bay Area Breakers: Finished 5th in Dallas, grabbing a single standings point and look to improve upon that in St. Louis. Can Pablo Tellez find consistent chemistry with either Len Yang or Luc Pham? Will the youngster Ella Yeh see the court? Both Pham and Yeh seek their first wins of the season after 0-4 starts in Dallas. 

Orlando Squeeze: Were a DreamBreaker win away from winning their Group in Dallas. Had to settle for dropping to the 4th vs. 4th matchup which they won over Utah, securing 6 standings points in Dallas. Jack Sock had a strong 7-3 start to the campaign - will that continue? And will they address the DreamBreaker (especially on the women’s side), with a trade or waiver pick-up in the coming weeks?

Palm Beach Royals: Sofia Sewing hit the ground running in her MLP debut, going 8-2 and pairing brilliantly with Tyson McGuffin with impressive wins, most notably over Anna Bright and Hayden Patriquin. Can Dekel Bar up his level as he was just 3-7 in Columbus. Grayson Goldin, returning from a stroke, walking off the DreamBreaker winner over the Night Owls was the feel-good moment of the year.

St. Louis Shock: Two events, two disappointments, but everything is still in front of the Shock as the playoffs are their ultimate focus. However, this week is different as it’s their host event. Will the Shock fans be rewarded with their absolute best and the first Shock event win of the season? Anna Bright has 6 losses this season - 4 of them to Anna Leigh Waters and the Fives (who are not at this event) - does she run the table inside Chaifetz Arena? 

Marquee Matchups: 

Group A: Brooklyn Pickleball Team vs. LA Mad Drops (2:30PM Central on Friday 6/5): Well Brooklyn, are you an elite team or not? This is a great early season measuring stick against the winners of Event 1. And the Kawamoto Bowl is always entertaining for everyone except their family members as Jackie (Brooklyn) will battle Jade (LA) in women’s doubles - will they square off in mixed as well?  

Group B: Palm Beach Royals vs. St. Louis Shock (4:00PM Central on Saturday 6/6): Rematch of Group Play in Columbus where the Shock won 3-1, dropping mixed as McGuffin and Sewing upset Bright and Patriquin. The 2 game wins in gender for the Shock were not close 11-4 (W) and 11-2 (M). Big challenge (and opportunity) for the Royals as this one is the last match of the day on center in front of the Shock home crowd.