MLP DALLAS: DAY 1 SCORES RECAP – CHALLENGER LEVEL GROUP PLAY

Day 1 Recap 

Good evening from Dallas, Texas! After the first day of Challenger Level Group Play matches, the California BLQK Bears, New York Hustlers, Los Angeles Mad Drops, and Frisco Panda advanced to Friday’s Challenger Quarterfinals, while the SoCal Hard Eights and St. Louis Shock secured byes and will return for Challenger Semifinals on Friday afternoon.

Although the sun was shining, it was an unseasonably chilly day in the Big D with real-feel temperatures hovering in the forties and fifties throughout the day. As avid pickleball players know, these conditions harden the ball, and give way to crisp shots and faster play. Teams stayed on the attack and worked around the elements.

Below is a quick recap of all Challenger Level Group Play match scores from Day 1.

To rewatch all matches, head to MLP’s YouTube channel.

Group A Matches
Florida (1-2), Frisco (2-1), New Jersey (0-3), St. Louis (3-0)

Florida (1) vs. Frisco (3)

Warming things up on Grandstand Court, the Frisco Pandas defeated the Florida Smash for their first match win of 2023!

Game 1 – Women’s Doubles: 21-18 – Frisco
Game 2 – Men’s Doubles: 22-20 – Frisco
Game 3 – Mixed Doubles: 21-13 – Frisco
Game 4 – Mixed Doubles: 22-20 – Florida

New Jersey (0) vs. St. Louis (4)

To start the day on Championship Court, the St. Louis Shock and New Jersey 5s battled it out in consecutive tight games that fired up the bundled up fans on the sidelines. Ultimately, the Shock edged out the 5s (MLP Atlanta Semifinalists) in each of the four games for the first sweep of the day.

Game 1 – Women’s Doubles: 21-19 – St. Louis
Game 2 – Men’s Doubles: 21-19 – St. Louis
Game 3 – Mixed Doubles: 22-20 – St. Louis
Game 4 – Mixed Doubles: 21-18 – St. Louis

Frisco (1) vs. St. Louis (3)

The St. Louis Shock stayed hot, and won a convincing set of games against the Frisco Pandas, 3-1.

Game 1 – Women’s Doubles: 23-21 – St. Louis
Game 2 – Men’s Doubles: 21-15 – St. Louis
Game 3 – Mixed Doubles: 21-15 – St. Louis
Game 4 – Mixed Doubles: 21-19 – Frisco

Florida (4) vs. New Jersey (0)

With the Florida Smash and New Jersey 5s entering the match with something to prove after losing their first matches of the day, both teams came out swinging. Ultimately, the Smash were too hot to handle, sweeping the match, 4-0.

Game 1 – Men’s Doubles: 21-16 – Florida
Game 2 – Women’s Doubles: 21-18 – Florida
Game 3 – Mixed Doubles: 22-20 – Florida
Game 4 – Mixed Doubles: 22-20 – Florida

Frisco (3) vs. New Jersey (1)

Fresh off a loss to St. Louis, Frisco ran away with the match after a dominant first three games against the New Jersey 5s.

Game 1 – Women’s Doubles: 21-17 – Frisco
Game 2 – Men’s Doubles: 21-14 – Frisco
Game 3 – Mixed Doubles: 21-15 – Frisco
Game 4 – Mixed Doubles: 21-19 – New Jersey

Florida (1) vs. St. Louis (3)

Playing like a well-oiled machine, the Shock remained in-sync to take down the Florida Smash and punched their ticket to the Challenger Semifinals.

Game 1 – Men’s Doubles: 21-19 – St. Louis
Game 2 – Women’s Doubles: 21-15 – St. Louis
Game 3 – Mixed Doubles: 23-21 – St. Louis
Game 4 – Mixed Doubles: 21-19 – Florida

Group B Matches
Las Vegas (1-2), Los Angeles (2-1), Milwaukee (1-2), New York (2-1) 

Las Vegas (0) vs. New York (4)

The New York Hustlers brought their brooms to their first duel against the Las Vegas Night Owls, sweeping the match 4 games to 0.

Game 1 – Women’s Doubles: 21-8 – New York
Game 2 – Men’s Doubles: 21-19 – New York
Game 3 – Mixed Doubles: 22-20 – New York
Game 4 – Mixed Doubles: 22-20 – New York

Los Angeles (3) vs. Milwaukee (1)

Game 1 – Men’s Doubles: 21-17 – Los Angeles
Game 2 – Women’s Doubles: 21-17 – Los Angeles
Game 3 – Mixed Doubles: 22-20 – Milwaukee
Game 4 – Mixed Doubles: 21-18 – Los Angeles

Las Vegas (1) vs. Milwaukee (3)

Game 1 – Men’s Doubles: 21-18 – Milwaukee
Game 2 – Women’s Doubles: 21-16 – Las Vegas
Game 3 – Mixed Doubles: 23-21 – Milwaukee
Game 4 – Mixed Doubles: 21-16 – Milwaukee

Los Angeles (3) vs. New York (1)

Game 1 – Men’s Doubles: 21-15 – Los Angeles
Game 2 – Women’s Doubles: 26-24- Los Angeles
Game 3 – Mixed Doubles: 21-14 – Los Angeles
Game 4 – Mixed Doubles: 24-22 – New York

Milwaukee (2) vs. New York (3)

The Milwaukee Mashers and the New York Hustlers stayed tough through momentum swings and ended the day with the only Dreambreaker match of Day 1. New York reigned supreme in this overtime match.

Game 1 – Men’s Doubles: 21-15 – Milwaukee
Game 2 – Women’s Doubles: 21-17- New York
Game 3 – Mixed Doubles: 21-16 – Milwaukee
Game 4 – Mixed Doubles: 21-14 – New York
Game 5 – Dreambreaker: 21-14 – New York

Las Vegas (3) vs. Los Angeles (1)

Game 1 – Men’s Doubles: 21-13 – Los Angeles
Game 2 – Women’s Doubles: 23-21- Las Vegas
Game 3 – Mixed Doubles: 21-16 – Las Vegas
Game 4 – Mixed Doubles: 21-18 – Las Vegas

Group C Matches
Austin (1-2), California (2-1), Seattle (0-3), SoCal (3-0)

Austin (3) vs. Seattle (1)

On Grandstand Court, Sam Querry made his MLP Season Two debut, filling in for Patrick Smith on the Seattle Pioneers. Despite the Seattle Women starting strong, the Pioneers fell short in the next three games to a dominant Austin Pickleball Team.

Game 1 – Women’s Doubles: 21-18 – Seattle
Game 2 – Men’s Doubles: 27-25 – Austin
Game 3 – Mixed Doubles: 21-18 – Austin
Game 4 – Mixed Doubles: 21-18 – Austin

California (1) vs. SoCal (0)

In the second match of the day on Championship Court, it was a Golden State showdown as the MLP Atlanta Challenger Champs, the SoCal Hard Eights, took on the California BLQK Bears. SoCal picked up the win, after each game down to a couple tight points.

Game 1 – Women’s Doubles: 21-19 – SoCal
Game 2 – Men’s Doubles: 25-23 – California
Game 3 – Mixed Doubles: 21-18 – SoCal
Game 4 – Mixed Doubles: 21-18 – SoCal

Austin (1) vs. California (3)

Game 1 – Women’s Doubles: 21-15 – California
Game 2 – Men’s Doubles: 21-17 – Austin
Game 3 – Mixed Doubles: 22-20 – California
Game 4 – Mixed Doubles: 21-17 – California

Seattle (1) vs. SoCal (3)

Game 1 – Women’s Doubles: 21-12 – Seattle
Game 2 – Men’s Doubles: 21-19 – SoCal
Game 3 – Mixed Doubles: 21-19 – SoCal
Game 4 – Mixed Doubles: 21-12 – SoCal

Austin (1) vs. SoCal (3)

Game 1 – Women’s Doubles: 21-19 – Austin
Game 2 – Men’s Doubles: 21-11 – SoCal
Game 3 – Mixed Doubles: 21-13 – SoCal
Game 4 – Mixed Doubles: 21-15 – SoCal

California (4) vs. Seattle (0)

The BLQK Bears played with the adrenaline still pumping from their earlier win, and swept the Pioneers to wrap up the day.

Game 1 – Women’s Doubles: 21-14 – California
Game 2 – Men’s Doubles: 23-21 – California
Game 3 – Mixed Doubles: 21-15 – California
Game 4 – Mixed Doubles: 21-13 – California