Major League Pickleball Week 10 Power Rankings: Utah finishes strong at home event
Last Edited
Aug 04 2025
Category
News
The Major League Pickleball regular season wrapped up this weekend in Utah with MLP Salt Lake City.
The event featured several high-stakes matches that determined who got the last spot in the playoffs and who will get a first-round bye.
The Utah Black Diamonds (4-1), Texas Ranchers (4-1) and New Jersey 5s (3-1) all finished strong, but each team is likely walking away from the event with a different outlook (more on them later).
The Miami Pickleball Club narrowly clinched the 10th and final playoff spot, thanks to a crucial win over the Chicago Slice in a Dreambreaker on Thursday. The Slice, who finished one point behind Miami in the standings, were 0-5 on the week and lost three Dreambreakers -- dropping their Dreambreaker record to 3-10 on the season.
Here's how the seeding shook out, with the top 6 teams getting a first-round bye.
1. St. Louis Shock
2. Dallas Flash
3. New Jersey 5s
4. Brooklyn Pickleball Team
5. Columbus Sliders
6. Los Angeles Mad Drops
7. Texas Ranchers
8. Orlando Squeeze
9. Utah Black Diamonds
10. Miami Pickleball Club
Major League Pickleball Premier Level playoff format
First Round
-Seeds 7–10 face off in single-elimination matches.
-High seed (No. 7) will select their opponent from among the lower seeds.
-Winners advance and are re-seeded as No. 7 and No. 8 for the next round.
Second Round
-Seeds 1–6, plus the two First Round winners (now seeded 7–8), compete in best-of-three match series. Higher seeds (starting with No. 1) choose their opponent from seeds 5–8.
The first two rounds of the playoffs will be held in San Diego Aug. 15-17, followed by the semifinals and finals in New York City Aug. 22-24.
For the semifinals, the highest remaining seed will again get to choose their opponent.
Be on the lookout for a full playoff preview next week.
Major League Pickleball Premier Level final regular season standings
Major League Pickleball Challenger Level final regular season standings
At the Challenger Level, the Las Vegas Night Owls ran away with the No. 1 seed, followed by the Nashville Chefs -- The Kitchen's MLP team -- at No. 2.
All six Challenger Level teams qualified for the playoffs, seeded 1–6 based on regular season standings points.
First Round
Seeds 3–6 face off in single-elimination matches. High seed selects their opponent.
Semifinals
Seeds 1–2, plus the First Round winners, compete in best-of-three match series. Las Vegas will get to select their opponent.
Semifinal winners will advance to the Finals in NYC.
Major League Pickleball Week 10 Power Rankings
With the playoff field now set, we're only ranking the top 10 teams this week. Better luck next year to Chicago, Phoenix, Atlanta, Carolina, SoCal and New York.
#1: St. Louis Shock ↔️
Starters: Anna Bright, Kate Fahey, Hayden Patriquin, Gabe Tardio
Bench players: Judit Castillo, Erik Lange
Previous ranking: #1
Regular-season record: 24-1
Dreambreaker record: 3-1
Mid-Season Tournament: 2nd
Best result: Win vs. Dallas in regulation
Worst result: Loss vs. LA in a Dreambreaker
The loss to the Flash in the Mid-Season Tournament final seemed to have lit a fire under this team, as they are 11-0 since with 9 of those wins coming in regulation.
They also beat four of the other main contenders in that closing stretch -- Dallas, Brooklyn, Los Angeles and New Jersey.
The men's doubles duo of Hayden Patriquin and Gabe Tardio were 24-1 in regular-season matches, easily making them the best men's duo in the league. They also were 3-1 in the Mid-Season Tournament.
But the biggest improvement from last year (when they finished third) to this year was the mixed pairing of Tardio and Kate Fahey. In 2024, that duo was 6-22 and a clear weakness for the Shock. This season they were 21-6 and a legit strength of the team.
#2: Los Angeles Mad Drops ↔️
Starters: Jade Kawamoto, Catherine Parenteau, Hunter Johnson, Ben Johns
Bench players: Wes Burrows, Mehvish Safdar, Thomas Wilson (IR)
Previous ranking: #2
Regular-season record: 18-7
Dreambreaker record: 7-2
Mid-Season Tournament: T9
Best result: Win vs. St. Louis in a Dreambreaker
Worst result: Loss vs. Orlando in regulation
We only have a handful of matches to go off of since the Mad Drops 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. I think that version of LA is closer to what they will be going forward than what we saw earlier in a loss to St. Louis when everybody was just getting used to each other.
The Mad Drops' record is also a bit misleading because they dealt with injuries and suspensions throughout the season. In matches where they had all four "starters" in the lineup, LA was 14-4 (78%). In matches where they had at least one sub (including the Mid-Season Tournament), they were 5-5 (50%).
#3: Dallas Flash ↔️
Starters: Jorja Johnson, Tyra Black, JW Johnson, Augie Ge
Bench players: Roscoe Bellamy, Samantha Parker
Previous ranking: #3
Regular-season record: 22-3
Dreambreaker record: 3-2
Mid-Season Tournament: 1st
Best result: Win vs. St. Louis in regulation
Worst result: Loss vs. Columbus in a Dreambreaker
The last two weeks of the season were a little shaky for a team that was widely regarded as the best team in the league less than a month ago. The defending champs were beaten three times in their final two events after going the first three months of the season without a single loss.
That's not exactly how you want to be going into the playoffs, especially since all three of those losses are against teams -- St. Louis, Los Angeles and Columbus -- who the Flash could easily end up seeing in the playoffs.
The biggest drop off down the stretch has been in men's doubles, as JW Johnson and Augie Ge were 5-6 in the final 11 matches of the regular season. And overall that line has gone backwards since last season. Ge and Johnson were 25-10 (71%) in 2024 including playoff matches, while this season they are 16-13 (55%).
I'm certainly not counting Dallas out heading into the playoffs, but I can't justify having them ahead of St. Louis or LA after recent losses to both of those teams.
#4: New Jersey 5s ↔️
Starters: Anna Leigh Waters, Meghan Dizon, Will Howells, Noe Khlif
Bench players: Mari Humberg, Zane Navratil
Previous ranking: #4
Regular-season record: 20-5
Dreambreaker record: 3-3
Mid-Season Tournament: 3rd
Best result: Win vs. LA in a Dreambreaker
Worst result: Loss vs. Utah in a Dreambreaker
The trade for Noe Khlif has led to a mixed bag of results in the two events he's played for the 5s. At MLP Dallas he was 9-5 overall and 5-1 in mixed doubles with Meghan Dizon, which is really the line New Jersey was looking to improve by starting him ahead of Zane Navratil. But this week he was 4-4 overall (3-1 in men's doubles and 1-3 in mixed doubles).
I think the 5s are still dangerous and could win it all, but they're going to need Anna Leigh Waters to be nearly perfect in order to get by any of the teams I've named so far.
#5: Columbus Sliders ↔️
Starters: Lea Jansen, Parris Todd, Andrei Daescu, CJ Klinger
Bench players: Ross Whittaker, Marcela Hones
Previous ranking: #5
Regular-season record: 18-7
Dreambreaker record: 3-1
Mid-Season Tournament: 5th/6th
Best result: Win vs. Dallas in a Dreambreaker
Worst result: Loss vs. Orlando in regulation
Columbus showed they have a high ceiling with a win over Dallas at MLP St. Louis, but they have been inconsistent throughout the season.
The women's pairing of Parris Todd and Lea Jansen finished the regular season strong after some early struggles, going 13-5 over the last 4 events including the Mid-Season Tournament.
But the men's team of Andrei Daescu and CJ Klinger has underperformed throughout the season, going 16-8 (66.67%) together. Columbus is one of three teams in the league with two men's players who are ranked in the top 10 in men's doubles this season on the PPA Tour -- Daescu is ranked No. 2 and Klinger is No. 7. The others are Gabe Tardio (No. 3) and Hayden Patriquin (No. 6) for St. Louis and Federico Staksrud (No. 5) and Dylan Frazier (No. 10) for Orlando. Tardio/Patriquin are 27-2 (93.1%), while Staksrud/Frazier are 18-6 (75%), both better than Columbus' men's team.
It doesn't make much sense, as Daescu and Klinger won a gold medal together on the PPA Tour back in December. And if you had asked most fans and pundits before the season what Daescu and Klinger's winning percentage would be, I think everyone would have said a number much higher than 66%.
But if they can get it together for the playoffs, they will be dangerous against anybody.
#6: Brooklyn Pickleball Team ↔️
Starters: Rachel Rohrabacher, Jackie Kawamoto, Dekel Bar, Riley Newman
Bench players: Hannah Blatt, Pat Smith
Previous ranking: #6
Regular-season record: 18-7 (regular season complete)
Dreambreaker record: 1-3
Mid-Season Tournament: 5th/6th
Best result: Win vs. LA in regulation (x2)
Worst result: Loss vs. Utah in a Dreambreaker
Brooklyn hasn't played with all four starters since June 1, as all three of their men's players have been out at various points with injuries or illnesses in the weeks since. But they have kept the train on the tracks in spite of the absences, much thanks to the great play of Rachel Rohrabacher and Jackie Kawamoto over the second half of the season. In the 20 matches since the injury to Newman at MLP Phoenix, Rohrabacher and Kawamoto were 17-3, and they are 22-8 overall on the year.
On the men's side, AJ Koller has filled in as Brooklyn's main sub with Dekel Bar missing the second half of the season. Koller played as well as you could hope for as a sub, going 8-7 with Newman in men's and 13-5 with Rohrabacher in mixed. Bar was 5-5 with Newman and 9-2 with Rohrabacher in mixed before he was sidelined -- so the mixed line is where Bar really makes a difference.
Overall, Brooklyn was 6-4 when they had all 4 starters early in the season, and 12-3 in regular season matches when they were playing with bench players or subs. That stat is a little misleading, however, because their 4 losses early in the season were to Dallas, St. Louis, New Jersey and Texas -- so their schedule was tough in the first 10 matches.
I think they are very similar to Columbus heading into the playoffs. All signs point to Bar making a return for the first round of the playoffs in San Diego in a couple weeks, but it's hard to know what level he'll be playing at after so much time off. And he's not playing this week at the PPA Tour Bristol Open, so we won't get a look at him until Brooklyn plays their first playoff match.
#7: Texas Ranchers ↔️
Starters: Tina Pisnik, Kaitlyn Christian, Christian Alshon, Eric Oncins
Bench players: Wyatt Stone, Felicity Di Laura
Previous ranking: #7
Regular-season record: 15-10
Dreambreaker record: 1-4
Mid-Season Tournament: 4th
Best result: Win vs. Brooklyn in regulation
Worst result: Loss vs. Carolina in a Dreambreaker
I have one question for the Ranchers after this week: What the hell? Christian Alshon -- their best player and the player who they built their team around -- apparently just decided he didn't want to play MLP Salt Lake City. Or maybe the team decided that for him -- it's unclear and the team hasn't said publicly what's going on. Alshon appeared in multiple social media posts over the weekend working out and practicing at home in Florida and is signed up to play singles and mixed doubles at the PPA Tour Bristol Open this week, so he was apparently a healthy scratch.
The team not saying anything only leads people like me to speculate, and there's no scenario in which the situation can be viewed positively with the information we have.
Texas had a real chance to sneak past Los Angeles for the No. 6 seed, which would have given them a first-round bye. If it was Alshon's decision to stay home, that's a bad look to skip out on some very important matches. If there is some sort of behind-the-scenes drama and Alshon got benched -- which is what I gleaned from this social media post -- that's also bad.
To his credit, Wyatt Stone played great off the bench as a replacement for Alshon, going 8-4 in his matches at MLP Salt Lake City. But I just don't think the Ranchers can count on a team of Stone-Eric Oncins-Tina Pisnik-Kaitlyn Christian to make a deep run in the playoffs. So whatever is going on with Alshon, they will need to figure it out quickly.
#8: Utah Black Diamonds ⬆️
Starters: Allyce Jones, Etta Tuionetoa, Tyler Loong, Connor Garnett
Bench players: Chloe Igleski, Yates Johnson
Previous ranking: #9
Regular-season record: 12-13
Dreambreaker record: 3-2
Mid-Season Tournament: T12
Best result: Win vs. New Jersey in a Dreambreaker
Worst result: Loss vs. SoCal in regulation
MLP Salt Lake City was a successful debut for the new-look Black Diamonds roster that now includes Etta Tuionetoa. Allyce Jones and Tuionetoa were 5-0 on the week in women's doubles and won 65% of points played -- the highest percentage of any duo in the field at MLP Salt Lake City. But in mixed, the pairing of Tyler Loong and Tuionetoa was just 1-4, their lone win coming against Orlando in a match that didn't matter for seeding purposes.
But even if the Loong/Tuionetoa pairing continues to underperform, the Black Diamonds still have three lines that are pretty strong (Connor Garnett/Loong, Jones/Tuionetoa, Garnett/Jones) heading into the playoffs.
#9: Orlando Squeeze ⬇️
Starters: Lacy Schneemann, Milan Rane, Dylan Frazier, Federico Staksrud
Bench players: Grayson Goldin, Alli Phillips, Tom Evans (on restricted list)
Previous ranking: #8
Regular-season record: 15-10
Dreambreaker record: 3-0
MId-Season Tournament: 7th/8th
Best result: Win vs. LA in regulation
Worst result: Loss vs. Carolina in regulation
This was the first week we've seen Orlando with Milan Rane in the starting lineup after the Squeeze traded for her at the deadline.
They were 3-2, but it's hard to glean much from their matches because there wasn't much on the line -- they were unlikely to catch Texas for the No. 7 seed and Utah wasn't close to catching them for the No. 8 seed.
But I'm dropping them anyway because they have been stuck in neutral for the second half of the season after getting out to a hot start, while Utah just showed they are improving as the season comes to an end.
Through the first two events, Orlando was 9-2 (82%). Since then they are 8-10, including Mid-Season Tournament matches. Which team will show up in San Diego?
#10: Miami Pickleball Club ⬆️
Starters: Tamaryn Emmrich, Mya Bui, Jay Devilliers, Yuta Funemizu
Bench players: Juan Benitez, Tatiana Ruhl
Previous ranking: #11
Regular-season record: 8-17
Dreambreaker record: 4-2
Mid-Season Tournament: 7th/8th
Best result: Win vs. Utah in a Dreambreaker
Worst result: Loss vs. Carolina in Regulation
This is another team that got off to a good start (6-5 through the first two events), but limped into the playoffs (4-14 since MLP Austin in May). They do deserve some credit, however, for making smart moves to build for the future.
They seemed to acknowledge by trading Noe Khlif that they weren't going to make a deep run in the playoffs, so they got cash for him and inserted Funemizu into the lineup to get crucial reps.
He finished the year 13-19 in his matches (8-6 in men's doubles, 2-12 in mixed doubles) and showed signs that he can be a Premier-level starter going forward.
I don't expect Miami to make much noise in the playoffs, but it will be interesting to see what moves they make in the offseason and if they can make a jump into the top half of the league standings in 2026.