Major League Pickleball (MLP) kicked off this past weekend with its first event of the year in Mesa, Arizona. The Challenger League started things off with pool play on Thursday, where six of the twelve teams were eliminated. Going into Friday, the Bay Area Breakers and the Chicago Slice led the league with undefeated (3-0) records within their pools which secured their spot in the semifinals. Out of the remaining quarterfinal teams, the Atlanta Bouncers and the Utah Black Diamonds were able to push their way through to the next round with wins over the Orlando Squeeze and the Brooklyn Aces. 

In the semifinals, the Black Diamonds were able to upset the Chicago Slice with a 3-1 victory while the Bay Area Breakers squeaked a win over Atlanta with a 3-2 win in the Dreambreaker. The Breakers continued their undefeated streak with a convincing 3-0 win over the Black Diamonds. Breaker’s team member and JOOLA’s own, Ewa Radzikowska, was named MVP for the Challenger League after going undefeated for the weekend in both women’s and mixed doubles.

The Premier League launched their pool play on Friday, following the same format as the Challenger League. Unsurprisingly, JOOLA athlete, Ben Johns, helped lead his team to a 3-0 record at the end of pool play, securing a spot in the semis along with the Los Angeles Mad Drops. In the quarter finals, Florida Smash handled the Milwaukee Mashers with a 3-1 victory while JOOLA ladies Anna Bright and Lacy Schneemann helped lead their team to a nail-biting victory over the New Jersey 5’s in a Dreambreaker.

The Hustlers edged out the Seattle Pioneers with an electric win in yet another Dreambreaker, with Lacy Schneemann coming up big against Meghan Dizon to secure their spot in the finals. The Los Angeles Mad Drops continued their weekend domination by defeating Florida Smash 3-0 in the semifinals. The women’s duo of Schneemann and Bright were able to hand the Mad Drops their first dropped point of the entire weekend, however, the Mad Drops shut out the rest of the matchups to earn a 3-1 victory over the Hustlers.

Over the weekend, JOOLA announced the addition of Lea Jansen to the Team JOOLA roster, who earned a fifth-place finish with the New Jersey 5’s.

Major League Pickleball looks to resume play in Daytona, Florida, for their second event during the weekend of March 23-26.