Alix Truong and Connor Garnett playing mixed doubles.
Alix Truong and Connor Garnett competing for the Utah Black Diamonds. Major League Pickleball

Truong, Garnett shine as Black Diamonds earn regulation victory over Mad Drops

OVERLAND PARK, KS - The Utah Black Diamonds were about as close as you can get to victory in their first match on Saturday, falling to the New York Hustlers in a DreamBreaker.

Going into their second match of the day against the Los Angeles Mad Drops, the squad featuring Callie Smith, Alix Truong, Connor Garnett, and Tyler Loong was hoping for anything but another deciding contest.

But, with Utah leading 2-1 and the Mad Drops’ Jade Kawamoto and Hunter Johnson with a sizeable advantage in the second mixed doubles match, it looked like bonus pickleball was all but a certainty.

Truong and Garnett, however, had other plans.

The duo—already riding high from their 25-12 rout of Lea Jansen and Jack Sock earlier in the day—willed their way back into the match and rode that momentum to a 25-22 triumph, securing three standings points and avoiding a DreamBreaker.

 

That win gives the Black Diamonds their second win of the season, with both coming in regulation.

Both Utah and Los Angeles have more matches to play at Elite Tennis and Wellness this weekend and will next face the St. Louis Shock on Sunday.