MLP playoffs live updates: Texas, Orlando advance to quarterfinals

Alex Lantz

Director of Content

Last Edited

Aug 15 2025

Major League Pickleball Premier Level first-round playoff results

Texas Ranchers def. Miami Pickleball Club 3-2: The Ranchers raised eyebrows earlier this season when they traded Etta Tuionetoa for Kaitlyn Christian, but that bet paid off in a big way in this match. Texas' women's duo of Christian and Tina Pisnik was dominant, winning 11-0, and Christian also won her mixed game. But the biggest reason the Ranchers wanted to get Christian in that trade was for her singles ability, and she was a huge reason they won the Dreambreaker 21-19 -- she was 8-2 against Mya Bui in their matchup against each other.

Orlando Squeeze def. Utah Black Diamonds 3-1: Orlando had to adjust their starting lineup after Dylan Frazier suffered an injury last week at the PPA Tour Bristol Open and sat out this match. Bench player Grayson Goldin stepped up big time for the Squeeze, though, with wins in men's doubles and mixed doubles to propel Orlando to the quarterfinals. You have to think that's a huge confidence boost for Goldin and his team as they head into the next round.

Major League Pickleball Premier Level quarterfinal matchups (best of 3 series)

No. 1 St. Louis Shock vs. No. 8 Orlando Squeeze: Every line for St. Louis is top tier, led by the men's duo of Hayden Patriquin and Gabe Tardio, who were easily the best men's doubles pairing in the league this season with a 27-2 record overall. Orlando showed with the win over Utah in the first round that they are playing well, but it was a different story in the first match against St. Louis. The Shock won 3-0, dominating in gender doubles and winning a close one in the first mixed game. Orlando's Federico Staksrud and Millan Rane had a good opportunity to at least force a second mixed game -- they were up 10-3 -- but Gabe Tardio and Kate Fahey came all the way back to take it 12-10.

No. 2 Dallas Flash vs. No. 5 Columbus Sliders: This was a perplexing decision from the Flash, who chose to play Columbus. They only lost three times this season, and one of those losses was to the Sliders in July. They had their choice between Columbus, LA or Texas. The Ranchers were the weakest team of those three throughout the season and barely made it out of the first round against Miami on Friday morning, so many (including me) fully expected Dallas to choose Texas. Perhaps they were trying to send a message to the rest of the field that they aren't afraid of anybody? The Flash escaped a near disaster in the first match, winning 21-18 in a Dreambreaker, but this series and that decision by the Flash will be watched closely on Saturday.

No. 3 New Jersey 5s vs. No. 7 Texas Ranchers: I imagine New Jersey reacted as if they'd just found a $100 bill on the ground when they saw that Texas was still on the board when it came time to select their opponent. The 5s have consistently been a step below the top two (St. Louis and Dallas), but a step above everybody else throughout the season. They've had some good moments since trading for Noe Khlif at the deadline and inserting him into the starting lineup over Zane Navratil, but that move has been somewhat controversial and it means the 5s will be under the microscope throughout the playoffs. If they don't play well, that will be the move that everybody points to. I think New Jersey will make it out of this round pretty easily, though -- they do have Anna Leigh Waters, after all.

No. 4 Brooklyn Pickleball Team vs. No. 6 Los Angeles Mad Drops: I feel for Brooklyn here. After playing much of the season without a fully healthy roster, now they have to play the team everybody wanted to avoid in their first playoff series. The good news for Brooklyn is Dekel Bar will be making his return after dealing with an illness and then an injury for the past couple months. It remains to be seen if he'll be 100%, though, as he hasn't played in a competitive setting since June 1. For the Mad Drops, we only have a handful of matches to go off of since they traded for Ben Johns, but I think you could see Johns becoming more comfortable playing with Catherine Parenteau in mixed and Hunter Johnson in men's doubles throughout their 6 matches together (and them becoming more comfortable with him). In their last match of the MLP Dallas event, the Mad Drops took down the Flash in a Dreambreaker. If that version of LA shows up, they can beat anybody, and they are my pick to win it all.

Major League Pickleball Challenger Level playoff results and matchups

First round

California Black Bears def. Florida Smash 3-0 (Florida eliminated)

Bay Area Breakers def. D.C. Pickleball Team 3-1 (D.C. eliminated)

The No. 1 seed Las Vegas Night Owls elected to play the Bay Area Breakers, which means No. 2 seed Nashville -- The Kitchen's MLP team -- will play the California Black Bears. Those best-of-three series will start Saturday.

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