MLP San Diego Preview

Major League Pickleball is back for regular season action this week from the Barnes Tennis Center in San, Diego California.

Stop number seven of the regular season is helping to shape the playoff race. Last week during the Mid-Season Tournament, the St. Louis Shock proved they are the ones to beat this year. They beat both the LA Mad Drops (3-1) and the New Jersey Fives (3-0) in the semis and finals, respectively.

Is either of those other top two teams going to be able to beat St. Louis? We won’t find that out until MLP Orlando in two weeks, when the Shock are back in action.

This week, however, the LA Mad Drops are in action against the competition in San Diego. They lost to the Shock and then to the Sliders in the bronze medal match in the Mid-Season Tournament. The Mad Drops are looking to pick up momentum, as they have this event and Orlando before heading into the playoffs.

Top Storylines

Will we see a rematch of the Mid-Season Tournament bronze medal match?

The Mad Drops and the Sliders faced off in Grand Rapids, with the Sliders taking the 3-1 edge over the Mad Drops. They are both favorites to win their groups and head to the Super Sunday Final. However, a lot more than four standings points will be on the line if that happens - 25 points to the victor and 18 points to the loser of the Super Sunday finale.

The Super Sunday schedule is being altered for the FIFA World Cup

Matches on Sunday are being played EARLY. The #2 seeds face off on Championship Court at 8am PST, while the #4 seeds play each other on Grandstand. At 9:30am PST, the #1 seeds face off on Championship Court and the #3 seeds play on Grandstand. There is a scheduled World Cup watch party at noon on the Barnes Tennis Center premises.

Group B is pretty wide open after the Sliders

The Sliders are definitive favorites in Group B heading into the event. However, after them, plenty of teams feel like they can do well. Orlando would be the second favorite, but I expect Lacy Schneemann to miss this event with the ankle injury she picked up in Grand Rapids. The SoCal Hard 8s could do some damage, along with the up and coming Phoenix Flames. The Black Bears just made a few trades this past week - can they find some chemistry and get hot?

Two teams could clinch playoff berths this weekend

Two teams have already mathematically clinched playoff berths - the St. Louis Shock and the New Jersey Fives. I fully expect the LA Mad Drops and Columbus Sliders to also punch their ticket to the playoffs this weekend. Right now, the magic number in terms of points, is 68. 

The Mad Drops currently have 61 points and the Sliders have 65. As soon as either team eclipses 68, they will mathematically clinch a playoff berth. 

Teams will be eliminated from playoff contention for the first time

The Utah Black Diamonds are currently in 12th place in points (the last playoff spot), with 16 points, and they look like they have a good chance of earning points this weekend. The two teams at risk of being mathematically eliminated from the playoffs are the Bay Area Breakers and the Florida Smash. The Breakers have 11 points and the Smash have 15. If either team is unable to surpass the 16 number, they will be eliminated. I expect that number to actually be higher than 16 after the event, with Utah, Orlando, SoCal, and Dallas all playing this event.

How Watch MLP San Diego and Broadcast Schedule

All times listed are local Pacific Time and the broadcast is on picklelballtv and the pickleballtv app

Sunday, July 19

• All day on MSG Network 11AM - 3PM ET (8AM - 12PM PT Local)

Group Breakdown

Group A

• LA Mad Drops - 3rd - 20.33 points per event
• Dallas Flash - T8th - 7.33 points per event
• Utah Black Diamonds - 12th - 5.33 points per event
• Atlanta Bouncers - 14th - 4.33 points per event
• Bay Area Breakers - 18th - 3.33 points per event

Group B

• Columbus Sliders - 4th - 16.25 points per event
• SoCal Hard Eights - 10th - 7 points per event
• Orlando Squeeze - 11th - 6.33 points per event
• Florida Smash - 15th - 3.75 points per event
• California Black Bears - 16th - 3.5 points per event
• Phoenix Flames - T19th - 0.5 points per event

A Quick Glance at Rosters

Group A

LA Mad Drops

• Roster: Ben Johns, Catherine Parenteau, Jade Kawamoto, Max Freeman, Gabe Joseph, and Samantha Parker

Dallas Flash

• Roster: JW Johnson, Danni-Elle Townsend, Alix Truong, Augie Ge, Brooke Buckner, and Ivan Jakovljevic

Utah Black Diamonds

• Roster: Etta Tuionetoa, Connor Garnett, Allyce Jones, Tama Shimabukuro, Victoria DiMuzio, and Tyler Loong

Atlanta Bouncers

• Roster: Jaume Martinez Vich, Jay Devilliers, Jessie Irvine, Mari Humberg, Keilly Ulery, and Donald Young

Bay Area Breakers

• Roster: James Delgado, Genie Erokhina, Blaine Hovenier, Len Yang, Kiora Kunimoto, and Ella Yeh

Group B

Columbus Sliders

Roster: Andrei Daescu, Parris Todd, CJ Klinger, Hurricane Tyra Black, Alex Crum, and Judit Castillo

SoCal Hard 8s

• Roster: Meghan Dizon, Armaan Bhatia, Cailyn Campbell, Will Mackinnon, Rafa Lenhard, and Naomi Nguyen

Orlando Squeeze

• Roster: Federico Staksrud, Lacy Schneemann, Jack Sock, Milly Rane, Yates Johnson, and Alex Walker

Florida Smash

• Roster: Martina Frantova, Cason Campbell, Paula Rives, Chris Crouch, Mya Bui, and Connor Mogle

California Black Bears

• Roster: Sahra Dennehy, Pablo Tellez, Dylan Frazier, Jalina Ingram, Joey Wild, and Dylan Frazier (Luca Mack on IR)

Phoenix Flames

• Roster: Jonathan Truong, Daria Walczak, Cam Chaffin, Wyatt Stone, Alexa Schull, and Alli Phillips