It may be the only time ice has caused a ripple.

The St. Louis Shock successfully "icing out" Anna Leigh Waters of the New Jersey Fives in women's doubles made waves through the pickleball world, especially on social media. It happened this past Sunday at the Edward Jones MLP Mid-Season Tournament Finals in Grand Rapids, Michigan. 

Anyone watching the game either in person or on FOX knew what was going on, and Kate Fahey confirmed it in the postgame interview.

"We came out with a specific game plan and it started working," said Fahey. "To hit the ball to Anna Leigh is a little bit scary, so we tried to avoid that."

Implementing this plan against Waters and Jorja Johnson was easier said than done.

"It definitely requires discipline, 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.' It's pretty obvious what we were doing, but it worked," added Anna Bright. "It worked on the day."

Fahey and Bright’s strategy quickly caught the attention of seasoned player Zane Navratil and veteran broadcaster Dave Fleming, both of whom were eager to share their insights on the successful maneuver.

"A strategic masterclass delivered the trophy to the St. Louis Shock at the Mid-Season Tournament. They isolate Anna Leigh Waters. They put dead dinks, meaning you can't attack them, in front of Jorja Johnson, and they just stayed so disciplined to it," praised Fleming, via Instagram. "They had to. They were patient. They didn't want to engage in firefights because their hands are so good on the other side, and they just kept doing it over and over. They checked their egos at the door. Incredible performance by Anna Bright and Kate Fahey."

A look at some of the statistics from that matchup compiled by Jim Ramsey confirms the thorough game plan.

Not including serves and returns, or rallies ending on the serve or return:

-> Waters hit 20% of her team's shots.

-> Waters hit 16% of her team's third-shots.

-> Waters hit 1.6 shots per rally. Johnson, 6.4.

-> In 11 rallies, Waters did not hit any shots. That never happened once to Johnson.

-> Waters hit only one shot in ten rallies. Johnson hit only one shot in five rallies.

-> When Waters and Johnson called time out trailing 8-3-1, Waters had hit a total of eleven shots in 19 rallies.

-> In the game's longest rally (77 shots at 6-10-2), Waters hit 9 of her team's 38 shots (24%), and watched Johnson hit 19 consecutive shots.

-> In the game's second-longest rally (51 shots at 8-3-1), Waters hit only one of her team's 24 shots.

-> 19 rallies ended with Waters or Johnson striking the ball. Three of those 19 times (16%) were by Waters.

-> There was only one rally the entire game where Waters hit more shots than Johnson.

While the strategy ultimately delivered the desired result, Navratil cautioned that the Shock may have been better off keeping it under wraps for a little longer when the stakes are even higher.