Major League Pickleball 2026 Week 2 Power Rankings
The New Jersey 5s showed this week why many fans and pundits considered them among the favorites heading into the 2026 season, with a dominant performance at the league’s second event in Columbus, Ohio.
After walking away with a disappointing 4th-place finish at MLP Dallas, the 5s bounced back by going undefeated at MLP Columbus with wins against both of the teams that had beaten them in Week 1 — the Columbus Sliders and St. Louis Shock.
“It means the world (to win in Columbus) because we had an incredibly emotional weekend last weekend in Dallas and a lot of people questioning us,” said Ryan Harwood, New Jersey’s owner and general manager. “I am so proud of how resilient this group was. They are professionals, they know how to bounce back, and that’s what champions do.”
After a week that saw several upsets and surprises in Dallas, the results at MLP Columbus were generally more in line with what was expected going in. St. Louis cruised through a relatively weak Group B, while New Jersey beat Columbus in Group Play to earn the top spot in Group A.
The biggest surprise might have been how easily New Jersey dispatched St. Louis in the 1 vs. 1 matchup on Sunday. After losing in a Dreambreaker to the Shock in Dallas, the 5s completed the sweep 11-3, 11-8, 11-9 in Columbus.
“I’m really proud of our team for showing the stuff we have,” 5s star Anna Leigh Waters said. “I feel like we’re getting better and better, and hopefully this is just a start for us.”
Major League Pickleball Week 2 Standings
The Kitchen’s MLP Week 2 Power Rankings
1. Los Angeles Mad Drops ↔️
Record: 6-0
Roster: Ben Johns, Max Freeman, Gabriel Joseph, Catherine Parenteau, Jade Kawamoto, Samantha Parker.
The big storyline coming out of Week 1 was Ben Johns’ performance. Many wondered how motivated Johns would be in MLP this season, given that he hasn’t had great results (or a great attitude) either of the past two years. We appear to have our answer to that question, as Johns took his game to what seemed like an entirely new level in mixed doubles at MLP Dallas. He was covering 90% of the court or more at times while playing with Kawamoto, and picked up convincing wins against some very good opponents in the process (11-6 over Anna Bright/Hayden Patriquin and 11-6 over Andrei Daescu/Alix Truong).
Johns and LA newcomer Max Freeman had some ups and downs in men’s doubles, but ended up 4-2 on the week. They seemed to play better together as the week went on, getting a big win over Columbus’ Andrei Daescu/CJ Klinger in the 1 vs. 1 match, and I think they still have room to improve. Freeman was also solid in mixed with Parenteau (4-2).
If Johns continues to play at the level we saw in Dallas, it’s going to take a very good performance to beat the Mad Drops, who are also a very strong Dreambreaker team.
2. New Jersey 5s 📈
Record: 9-2
Roster: Will Howells, Noe Khlif, Martin Emmrich, Anna Leigh Waters, Jorja Johnson, Lina Padegimaite.
We saw in Columbus the version of the 5s that many expected when they drafted Jorja Johnson in the offseason — a dominant women’s doubles duo (they held four of their five opponents under five points) and strong mixed play from both lineups.
They appear to be sticking with the mixed pairings of Noe Khlif/Anna Leigh Waters and Will Howells/Jorja Johnson, and it’s clear those players are becoming more comfortable playing together with every match.
The men’s duo of Khlif/Howells also bounced back from a shaky Week 1 where they went 1-4. In Columbus they were a perfect 6-0 with impressive wins over Columbus’ Andrei Daescu/CJ Klinger and St. Louis’ Hayden Patriquin/Gabe Tardio.
3. St. Louis Shock ↔️
Record: 9-2
Roster: Hayden Patriquin, Gabe Tardio, John Lucian Goins, Anna Bright, Kate Fahey, Elsie Hendershot.
Most people probably would have expected the Shock to win one of the first two events of the season, but they’ve settled for 3rd and 2nd place, respectively.
But their only two losses this season are to the two teams I have in front of them in this week’s Power Rankings, and they’ve cruised against all of the lower-tier teams they’ve faced. And I still don’t think we’ve seen their A game.
4. Columbus Sliders 📉
Record: 8-3
Roster: Andrei Daescu, CJ Klinger, Alexander Crum, Parris Todd, Danni-Elle Townsend, Alix Truong.
Columbus came out of MLP Dallas as one of the Top 2 teams (in a very strong field at that event), but took a step back in their home event this week.
Yes, they went 5-1, but all five of those wins came against teams who are unlikely to be serious contenders this season. And they were pushed to a Dreambreaker against a Miami team that went 1-4 this week and earned zero points at the event. There also were some puzzling game results even in the Sliders’ wins this week.
- Sahra Dennehy/Kiora Kunimoto def. Parris Todd/Danni-Elle Townsend 12-10
- Jay Devilliers/Jaume Martinez Vich def. Andrei Daescu/CJ Klinger 11-7
- Sofia Sewing/Tyson McGuffin def. Parris Todd/Andrei Daescu 11-9
The Sliders also lost 4-0 to the 5s this week after beating them in regulation in Week 1. So I’m left wondering: Which Columbus is the real Columbus — the one that looked super strong in Dallas even without Parris Todd (a top women’s player) or the one that struggled at times this week?
5. Brooklyn Pickleball Team ↔️
Record: 0-0
Roster: Christian Alshon, Riley Newman, Chris Haworth, Jackie Kawamoto, Rachel Rohrabacher, Hannah Blatt.
I initially had this team at No. 4 ahead of Columbus, but the Sliders left me no choice but to bump them up after having a great Week 1. We will see Brooklyn for the first time at MLP St. Louis this week.
Alshon, Newman and Kawamoto have been reunited from their days playing together with the D.C. Pickleball Team, which won one of the six standalone MLP events in 2023 (Jade Kawamoto was the other player on that team). Jackie Kawamoto/Rachel Rohrabacher went 19-6 in women’s doubles in the 2025 regular season, and Alshon is currently a Top 5 player in men’s doubles, mixed doubles and singles on the PPA Tour. They will be favored to win against most teams, but I don’t know if they have the extra gear it will take to beat the teams I have ahead of them.
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6. Dallas Flash ↔️
Record: 3-2
Roster: JW Johnson, Augie Ge, Ivan Jakovljevic, Tyra Black, Brooke Buckner, Albie Huang.
All things considered, I think Dallas slightly exceeded expectations at their home event in Week 1. Most fans and pundits were expecting a big drop off from the Flash after losing Jorja Johnson in the offseason, but they put together a pretty solid week.
Their only two losses were to the defending champions (Columbus) and one of the preseason favorites to win it all (New Jersey).
7. Orlando Squeeze ↔️
Record: 3-2
Roster: Federico Staksrud, Jack Sock, Yates Johnson, Lacy Schneemann, Milan Rane, Alex Walker.
The Squeeze only walked away from Dallas with 6 standings points, which is pretty light for how they actually played in Week 1.
Their only two losses were in Dreambreakers, and they had an impressive win over Columbus. They were actually in position to potentially win their group until a Dreambreaker loss to New Jersey on the event’s final day.
This is looking like a really solid team that can hang with the big dogs.
8. Texas Ranchers ↔️
Record: 3-3
Roster: Eric Oncins, Dylan Frazier, Matthew Barlow, Lea Jansen, Layne Sleeth, Ava Cavataio.
I think the Ranchers probably walked away from Dallas a little disappointed. When they faced the “good” teams — St. Louis, Los Angeles and Dallas — they were beaten fairly handily.
But when they played the lower-tier teams — Utah, Bay Area and Carolina — they took care of business and won comfortably.
9. Utah Black Diamonds ↔️
Record: 1-5
Roster: Connor Garnett, Tama Shimabukuro, Tyler Loong, Allyce Jones, Etta Tuionetoa, Victoria DiMuzio.
Yes, they went 1-5 at MLP Dallas, but four of those losses were to teams ahead of them on this list, so I think they were the victim of a very tough schedule to start the year. And in their other loss to the Bay Area Breakers, one of their starters — Tuionetoa — was out.
The biggest bright spot for this team was their men’s doubles duo. Shimabukuro/Garnett both had strong results toward the end of the PPA Tour season, and they continued that great play in Week 1 of the MLP season, going 3-2 against some very good men’s pairings.
On the other hand, the Black Diamonds went 0-5 in women’s doubles, so that’s gonna need to be cleaned up if they want to be a playoff team.
10. Palm Beach Royals ↔️
Record: 3-2
Roster: Dekel Bar, Tyson McGuffin, Grayson Goldin, Tina Pisnik, Sofia Sewing, Tamaryn Emmrich.
In their debut event as a franchise, the Royals had a pretty solid showing. They beat all the teams they’re “supposed” to beat on paper (Las Vegas, Florida and Carolina) but lost to the stronger teams (St. Louis and Columbus).
It was encouraging to see them be fairly competitive with the Shock and Sliders, though — McGuffin/Sewing took down Bright/Patriquin and Daescu/Todd, which are two of the strongest mixed doubles duos in the league.
11. Las Vegas Night Owls 📈
Record: 3-2
Roster: Blaine Hovenier, Roscoe Bellamy, Braden Jacobson, Callie Smith, Chao Yi Wang, Liz Truluck.
They appeared to be using their first event of the season to experiment with different lineup options. All six players played in doubles at one point or another, and getting 10 standings points to start the season puts them in good early position for a playoff spot.
They got blown out by the Shock, but played well in their other matches and lost in a Dreambreaker to a pretty good Royals team.
12. Atlanta Bouncers 📉
Record: 2-4
Roster: Jay Devilliers, Jaume Martinez Vich, Donald Young, Jessie Irvine, Kaitlyn Christian, Keilly Ulery.
As expected, their men’s doubles duo did a lot of the heavy lifting for the Bouncers, going 4-2 with a very solid win against Columbus’ men’s team of Daescu/Klinger.
But Irvine/Christian went 2-4 and the Bouncers were a combined 2-10 in mixed doubles. That’s not a good sign.
13. SoCal Hard Eights ↔️
Record: 0-0
Roster: Armaan Bhatia, Will MacKinnon, Rafael Lenhard, Meghan Dizon, Cailyn Campbell, Naomi Nguyen.
Bhatia has made the quarterfinals in his last two PPA Tour events, and Dizon also put up strong results in women’s doubles this spring, including a bronze with Lacy Schneemann at the Indoor National Championships in Minnesota. I think they’re a fringe playoff team this year, but if the 17-year-old MacKinnon and 15-year-old Campbell continue to improve, they could be a really solid team next year and beyond.
14. Chicago Slice ↔️
Record: 3-3
Roster: Hunter Johnson, Zane Navratil, Tom Protzek, Mari Humberg, Jamie Wei, Jalina Ingram.
I thought the Slice were a fringe playoff team coming into the year, and that appears to be pretty spot on after one week. Their only wins were against teams likely to finish in the bottom 5 of the standings (Florida, Miami and California), and they were beaten handily by New Jersey, Columbus and Atlanta.
The Atlanta loss is particularly concerning, because if the Slice are in the hunt for one of the last playoff spots at the end of the season, the Bouncers are likely to be one of the teams they’re in a close race with.
15. Phoenix Flames ↔️
Record: 0-4
Roster: Jonathan Truong, Wyatt Stone, Camden Chaffin, Judit Castillo, Alexa Schull, Daria Walczak
The Flames were dealt a tough hand in Week 1 because they were in a group that featured Columbus, New Jersey, Dallas and Orlando — all teams I have in my Top 10.
I think they will fare a lot better when they get to play some of the lower-tier teams.
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16. California Black Bears 📈
Record: 1-4
Roster: Michael Loyd, Anouar Braham, Joey Wild, Sahra Dennehy, Kiora Kunimoto, Emma Nelson
They got a win against another lower-tier team (Miami), but lost in regulation to the middle- and higher-tier teams they played in Columbus — Atlanta, Chicago, Columbus and New Jersey.
If they were going to compete for a playoff spot this season, the Atlanta and Chicago matches would have been the time to prove it.
17. Miami Pickleball Club 📉
Record: 1-4
Roster: Nicolas Acevedo, Yuta Funemizu, Clayton Powell, Isabella Dunlap, Estee Widdershoven, Aiko Yoshitomi
They started MLP Columbus by pushing the Sliders (the defending champs) to a Dreambreaker, which was a really good sign.
But they didn’t sustain that level of play for the rest of the week and proceeded to lose to Atlanta, New Jersey, Chicago and California.
Conclusion: This team is going to be pretty volatile. They are talented and could push some of the top teams, but they also can lose to some lower-tier teams.
18. Florida Smash 📈
Record: 1-4
Roster: Travis Rettenmaier, Cason Campbell, Christopher Couch, Martina Frantova, Paula Rives, Zoey Weil.
They snuck out of Columbus with 4 Standings Points thanks to a Dreambreaker win over Carolina in Group Play, but were beaten handily in their other four matches.
19. Carolina Hogs 📉
Record: 1-8
Roster: DJ Young, Brandon French, Connor Mogle, Genie Bouchard, Allison Phillips, Abbigal Hatton.
They did get a win over Bay Area at MLP Dallas, but then went 0-4 at MLP Columbus.
20. Bay Area Breakers 📉
Record: 1-4
Roster: Len Yang, Pablo Tellez, Luc Pham, Genie Erokhina, Mya Bui, Ella Yeh.
Their one win in Dallas was a pretty good one — 3-1 over Utah — but they also lost 3-1 to Carolina, which is a pretty bad loss.
