A lot has happened since our last power rankings.

The Dallas Flash lost for the first (and second) time at MLP St. Louis this weekend, Ben Johns was traded to the Los Angeles Mad Drops, the New Jersey 5s made a change to their men's starting lineup, the Columbus Sliders got over the hump vs. a top team, and the St. Louis Shock went undefeated in their home event.

Oh yeah, and Brooklyn continued to hum along, even without one of their best players.

Got all that?

This was by far the hardest week to do these rankings, based on the fact that we haven't seen two of the main contenders (LA and New Jersey) in action with their new lineups. But we gave it our best shot anyway.

You can find a roundup of all the trades that were made in the past week here.

The league's next event -- MLP Dallas -- starts Thursday and should provide some much-needed clarity, as LA, Dallas, St. Louis, New Jersey and Texas are all in the field.

Major League Pickleball Premier Level standings (as of July 21)

Major League Pickleball Challenger Level standings (as of July 21)

Major League Pickleball Week 8 Power Rankings

#1: Dallas Flash ↔️

Starters: Jorja Johnson, Tyra Black, JW Johnson, Augie Ge
Bench players: Roscoe Bellamy, Samantha Parker

Previous ranking: #1
Regular-season record: 17-2
Dreambreaker record: 2-1
Mid-Season Tournament: 1st

Best result: Win vs. St. Louis in regulation
Worst result: Loss vs. Columbus in a Dreambreaker

I'm trying hard not to overreact here. Three days ago the defending champs were undefeated, coming off a Mid-Season Tournament title, and the clear-cut No. 1 team in the league. They were beaten for the first time this year Saturday against Columbus (we'll get to them), then lost for the second time a few hours later against St. Louis.

In the Columbus match, Tyra Black collided with a barrier on the side of the court during the Dreambreaker, injuring her ankle. She came back and finished her next rotation (and played well in those points), but the whole scene seemed to rattle the rest of the Dallas team -- Columbus won 9 of the next 12 points after that happened, basically securing the match in that stretch.

Dallas looked even more rattled in the much-anticipated Saturday night match against St. Louis. The Shock had a clear home-court advantage with the crowd behind them, and I think the normally quiet nature of Dallas -- specifically JW Johnson and Augie Ge -- worked against them. Jorja Johnson was the only player on the Flash providing her team with any energy, while the others looked seriously shook by the Shock (and their fans).

The good news is that's the last time the Flash will have to play in a true road environment -- they are hosting this week's MLP event, then will play in front of presumably neutral crowds in the playoffs. And they beat St. Louis in regulation on a neutral court just a week ago.

All of this is to say: I'm giving Dallas the benefit of the doubt that Saturday was just an off day, and I'm betting they will bounce back. But we're closely monitoring the situation.

Next event: MLP Dallas starting Thursday.

#2: St. Louis Shock ↔️

Starters: Anna Bright, Kate Fahey, Hayden Patriquin, Gabe Tardio
Bench players: Judit Castillo, Erik Lange

Previous ranking: #2
Regular-season record: 18-1
Dreambreaker record: 2-1
Mid-Season Tournament: 2nd

Best result: Win vs. Dallas in regulation
Worst result: Loss vs. LA in a Dreambreaker

I debated moving them to No. 1, but for me it essentially comes down to the fact that their win over Dallas was at home and their loss to Dallas was at a neutral site when the stakes were the highest -- in the Mid-Season Tournament final. Slight edge to Dallas there. And they both have other losses to fringe contenders (although LA is more than a fringe contender now).

On the week, St. Louis was 5-0 and also beat Columbus and Brooklyn, who are both playing very well right now. They also deserve a ton of credit for investing in the local pickleball community and drawing good crowds all weekend. It was a great week for the Shock on and off the court, and they have my attention.

Next event: MLP Dallas starting Thursday.

#3: Los Angeles Mad Drops ⬆️

Starters: Jade Kawamoto, Catherine Parenteau, Hunter Johnson, Ben Johns
Bench players: Wes Burrows, Mehvish Safdar, Thomas Wilson (IR)

Previous ranking: #5
Regular-season record: 14-5
Dreambreaker record: 6-1
Mid-Season Tournament: T9

Best result: Win vs. St. Louis in a Dreambreaker
Worst result: Loss vs. Orlando in regulation

I was already very high on LA before Quang Duong was booted from the league, and then they went and replaced Duong with the best player to ever play the game. They got better in men's doubles, mixed doubles and singles, and they were already the best Dreambreaker team in the league. I debated putting them at No. 1. On paper that's where they belong, but I'm waiting at least a week before I make that jump.

People like to dog on Ben Johns' performance in MLP, but let's not forget that he has won 3 MLP titles back when they were standalone events and also won a season-ending title with Chicago in 2023.

We'll find out real quick whether LA is a legit contender, as they play Dallas, St. Louis, New Jersey and Texas at this week's MLP Dallas event.

#4: New Jersey 5s ⬇️

Starters: Anna Leigh Waters, Meghan Dizon, Will Howells, Noe Khlif
Bench players: Mari Humberg, Zane Navratil

Previous ranking: #3
Regular-season record: 12-3
Dreambreaker record: 2-2
Mid-Season Tournament: 3rd

Best result: Win vs. Brooklyn in a Dreambreaker
Worst result: Loss vs. Utah in a Dreambreaker

They didn't play at MLP St. Louis, so we haven't seen them with Khlif in the starting lineup over Navratil. I think they will be slightly better, and you can't count out a team with Anna Leigh Waters on the roster. But it's still an uphill battle with some very good teams in front of them.

It will also be interesting to see who gets the nod to start as their second women's player moving forward -- the 5s recently made a trade to get back Mari Humberg, who was the team's No. 2 women's player during last season's runner-up finish to the Dallas Flash. Humberg played in the semifinal match at the Mid-Season Tournament vs. St. Louis and went 0-2 in her games in the loss. New Jersey then switched back to Dizon in the starting spot for the next day's matches.

The recent roster moves make New Jersey arguably the only team in MLP that could reasonably start each of its six players in a given match. It gives them a ton of flexibility depending on the matchup, and they also have 10 regular season matches left to experiment with different pairings.

Next event: MLP Dallas starting Thursday

#5: Columbus Sliders ⬆️

Starters: Lea Jansen, Parris Todd, Andrei Daescu, CJ Klinger
Bench players: Ross Whittaker, Marcela Hones

Previous ranking: #7
Regular-season record: 18-7 (regular season complete)
Dreambreaker record: 3-1
Mid-Season Tournament: 5th/6th

Best result: Win vs. Dallas in a Dreambreaker
Worst result: Loss vs. Orlando in regulation

Outside of St. Louis, Columbus now has the highest quality win after beating Dallas this weekend in a Dreambreaker. So why aren't the Sliders higher on this list? Because they are perplexingly inconsistent.

Last week at the Mid-Season Tournament, they beat Brooklyn 3-0. This week, they lost to Brooklyn 3-1 (and it would have been 3-0, but they play the last game in regular season matches for tiebreaker purposes). And that's with Brooklyn missing top men's player Dekel Bar. They also lost to Texas at the Mid-Season Tournament and were taken to a Dreambreaker at MLP St. Louis by an Atlanta team that has basically no shot to make the playoffs at this point.

So they proved that the ceiling is high, but I think the floor is also lower than the teams we've named so far.

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 21-2 (91.3%), 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%.

Next event: Playoffs

#6: Brooklyn Pickleball Team ⬇️

Starters: Rachel Rohrabacher, Jackie Kawamoto, Dekel Bar, Riley Newman
Bench players: Hannah Blatt, Pat Smith

Previous ranking: #4
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 past several events. Koller has 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. I would have Brooklyn slightly ahead of Columbus if I knew for sure that Bar was going to be able to start in the playoffs, but that's still unclear at this point. A Brooklyn spokesperson told me Monday that they will likely have either Smith or Bar back by playoff time, but they won't know for certain until closer to the first playoff weekend Aug. 15-17. 

And Columbus just proved that they can take down a top team, while Brooklyn hasn't done that to this point.

Next event: Playoffs

#7: Texas Ranchers ⬇️

Starters: Tina Pisnik, Kaitlyn Christian, Christian Alshon, Eric Oncins
Bench players: Wyatt Stone, Felicity Di Laura

Previous ranking: #6
Regular-season record: 8-6
Dreambreaker record: 0-3
Mid-Season Tournament: 4th

Best result: Win vs. Brooklyn in regulation
Worst result: Loss vs. Carolina in a Dreambreaker

They didn't play at MLP St. Louis, but did finish 4th at the Mid-Season Tournament with a win over Columbus. I'm still jumping Columbus ahead of the Ranchers, though, because of the Sliders' win over Dallas.

I'm still not sure we've seen enough of this team since they swapped Etta Tuionetoa for Kaitlyn Christian, but the early returns were pretty good. They have 9 matches remaining in their regular season, so we'll have plenty to go off of before playoff time. 

Next event: MLP Dallas starting Thursday

#8: 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: 12-8
Dreambreaker record: 2-0
MId-Season Tournament: 7th/8th

Best result: Win vs. LA in regulation
Worst result: Loss vs. Columbus in regulation

I'm in wait-and-see mode with this team after they made a trade Monday for Milan Rane. I'm not sure that's a big enough upgrade to make this team a serious threat in the playoffs, as Rane was 9-15 with Mya Bui in women's doubles and 12-12 with Noe Khlif in mixed. Her new partners are better than her old partners, though.

The women's doubles pair of Lacy Schneemann and Parker was 9-15, as was the mixed doubles pair of Dylan Frazier and Parker.

Next event: MLP Salt Lake City July 31-Aug. 3

#9: Utah Black Diamonds ⬆️

Starters: Allyce Jones, Etta Tuionetoa, Tyler Loong, Connor Garnett
Bench players: Chloe Igleski, Yates Johnson

Previous ranking: #12
Regular-season record: 8-12
Dreambreaker record: 3-2
Mid-Season Tournament: T12

Best result: Win vs. New Jersey in a Dreambreaker
Worst result: Loss vs. SoCal in regulation

The Black Diamonds are looking frisky after getting Etta Tuionetoa in the Ben Johns trade. That move should secure their spot in the playoffs and I think it makes them a dangerous team.

Jones and Tuionetoa have made several deep runs in PPA Tour events over the years, and I expect them to be a top-tier women's team in the league going forward.

Jones is currently ranked No. 8 in women's doubles on the PPA Tour in 2025, while Tuionetoa is No. 10. The only other team with two women's players in the top 10 of the women's doubles points standings is the Dallas Flash, with Tyra Black at No. 5 and Jorja Johnson at No. 7.

Next event: MLP Salt Lake City July 31-Aug. 3.

#10: Chicago Slice ⬆️

Starters: Vivian Glozman, Callie Smith, James Ignatowich, Max Freeman
Bench players: Pierina Imparato, Carlos Di Laura

Previous ranking: #11
Regular-season record: 5-15
Dreambreaker record: 3-6
Mid-Season Tournament: 

Best result: Win vs. Utah in a Dreambreaker
Worst result: Loss vs. SoCal in a Dreambreaker

Going to 9 Dreambreakers in 20 matches and only winning three of them is a tough way to live. I do think it's a good sign that they can get to a lot of Dreambreakers, though, because they are guaranteeing themselves points in those scenarios. They even forced Dreambreakers against St. Louis and Dallas this weekend, but lost both of them.

I give them the slight edge over Miami in the race for the last playoff spot going forward because of what I'm about to say about Miami.

Next event: MLP Salt Lake City July 31-Aug. 3

#11: Miami Pickleball Club ⬇️

Starters: Tamaryn Emmrich, Mya Bui, Jay Devilliers, Yuta Funemizu
Bench players: Juan Benitez, Tatiana Ruhl

Previous ranking: #10
Regular-season record: 7-13
Dreambreaker record: 3-1
Mid-Season Tournament: 7th/8th

Best result: Win vs. Utah in a Dreambreaker
Worst result: Loss vs. Carolina in Regulation

Somewhat surprisingly, they were sellers at the trade deadline, sending Noe Khlif to New Jersey and Milan Rane to Orlando. That seems to be an admission that they weren't in a position to make a serious run even if they did make the playoffs, and now it will be a tough road to even get there. They have a head-to-head match against Chicago at MLP Salt Lake City that could be the decider.

Next event: MLP Salt Lake City July 31-Aug. 3

#12: Phoenix Flames ⬆️

Starters: Jessie Irvine, Genie Bouchard, Jack Sock, Tyson McGuffin
Bench players: Alex Walker, Pesa Teoni

Previous ranking: #13
Regular-season record: 4-15
Dreambreaker record: 4-5
Mid-Season Tournament: T12

Best result: Win vs. Chicago in a Dreambreaker
Worst result: Loss to SoCal in regulation

This is the team everybody thought would make a move or moves at the trade deadline, and then they didn't.

Next event: MLP Dallas starting Thursday

#13: Atlanta Bouncers ⬆️

Starters: Vivienne David, Victoria Di Muzio, Todd Fought, Jaume Martinez Vich
Bench players: Eric Roddy, Rachel Rettger

Previous ranking: #14
Regular-season record: 4-16
Dreambreaker record: 1-3
Mid-Season Tournament: T9

Best result: Win vs. Miami in a Dreambreaker
Worst result: Loss vs. Phoenix in a Dreambreaker

Their last regular-season win was in May. That was a long time ago.

Next event: MLP Salt Lake City July 31-Aug. 3.

#14: New York Hustlers ⬆️

Starters: Helena Jansen, Dominique Schaefer, Zane Ford, Donald Young
Bench players: Luana Stanciu, Helena Spiridis (restricted list), Stephen Madonia

Previous ranking: #15
Regular-season record: 3-16
Dreambreaker record: 1-0
Mid-Season Tournament: T9

Best result: Win vs. Phoenix in a Dreambreaker
Worst result: Loss vs. Atlanta in regulation

They didn't play at MLP St. Louis.

Next event: MLP Dallas starting Thursday

#15: SoCal Hard Eights ⬆️

Starters: Cailyn Campbell, Jalina Ingram, Blaine Hovenier, Ryan Fu
Bench players: John Lucian Goins, Irina Tereschenko

Previous ranking: #16
Record: 3-16
Dreambreaker record: 1-4

Best result: Win vs. Phoenix in regulation
Worst result: Loss vs. New York in regulation

Despite the 16 losses, this has become a fun team to watch with the youth they have on the women's side (Campbell is 15 and Ingram is 17). And even though I have them next to last, I respect what SoCal is doing as a franchise -- investing in young players with the understanding that they aren't going to be competitive this season, but could be next year if they can grab a big name in a trade or free agency.

Next event: MLP Dallas starting Thursday.

#16: Carolina Hogs ⬆️

Starters: Unclear
Men: Brandon French, Craig Johnson, Ivan Jakovljevic
Women: Liz Truluck, Danna Funaro, Ava Ignatowich

Previous ranking: #9
Regular-season record: 5-14
Dreambreaker record: 1-3
Mid-Season Tournament: T12

Best result: Win vs. Texas in a Dreambreaker
Worst result: Loss vs. New York in regulation

Sell your whole roster at the trade deadline, get put last in the power rankings. Them's the rules.

Next event: MLP Dallas starting Thursday