MLP St. Louis Event Preview - Stop #3

Thedink Pickleball 1 hour ago 6 views

The third stop of the 2026 Major League Pickleball (MLP) season is taking place at Chaifetz Arena at MLP St. Louis. The arena is on the Saint Louis University campus and hosts SLU athletics competitions, including basketball. The arena seats over 10,000 spectators.

With two events already in the books, there are a lot of storylines for St. Louis - let’s get into it.

The Shock are Hosting and Playing their Third Straight Event

The St. Louis Shock did NOT look good on Sunday in Columbus. They finished second to the New Jersey 5s in the event, but got beat 3-0 in that final match.

They finished third in Dallas, beating the 5s in a Dreambreaker. So the Shock finished third and then second in the first and the second events. Can they win their first event in their hometown event?

It's crazy that the Shock will be 60% of the way through their regular season after MLP St. Louis and two teams are playing for the first time in MLP St. Louis.

There are New Teams Playing for the First Time

Brooklyn Pickleball Team
SoCal Hard Eights

We have seen plenty of teams gain momentum throughout an event early on in the 2026 season. On one hand, Brooklyn and SoCal are fresh. On the other hand, the other teams have already had a chance to gel and pick up momentum.

The question is - can Brooklyn and SoCal get off to a hot start or are they going to see some early bumps in the road in their initial event?

Pool A has two elite teams and four mid-level teams fighting for points

Brooklyn and LA are in the elite tier. The Night Owls, Flames, Hard Eights, and Black Diamonds are all fighting for playoff positioning. How these four teams play against each other this weekend could go a long way toward their playoff aspirations.

Pool B has a Rivalry in the Making - Orlando Squeeze vs. Palm Beach Royals

This match will go on at approximately 2pm ET on Grandstand Court on Friday. This is a huge miss for me by the league to put this one in primetime. This match will essentially be for second place in the pool, barring some sort of crazy outcome in Pool B.

The Orlando Squeeze told us they thought they were better than 7th overall in Dallas. The Palm Beach Royals just got trounced in Columbus by Columbus, losing 1-3 on Super Sunday.

The Squeeze only have 6 standings points and the Royals have 12. The Squeeze are looking to regain control of Florida from the Royals with a win on Friday and a better finish than the Royals.

If your company is interested in reaching an audience of active pickleballers, you may want to give us a shout.

How to Watch MLP St. Louis

All match times listed are CST

All matches available on Pickleballtv and the Pickleballtv App, in addition to:

Saturday, June 6

Live on Tennis Channel 1PM ET - 5PM ET (12PM - 4PM CT Local)

Sunday, June 7

All day on MSG Network
Live on Tennis Channel 1PM ET - 5PM ET (12PM - 4PM CT Local)

Pools for MLP St. Louis

Pool A:

Brooklyn Pickleball Team
Las Vegas Night Owls
Los Angeles Mad Drops
Phoenix Flames
SoCal Hard Eights
Utah Black Diamonds

Pool B:

Atlanta Bouncers
Bay Area Breakers
Orlando Squeeze
Palm Beach Royals
St. Louis Shock

Team By Team Quick Glance

Pool A

Brooklyn Pickleball Team

Roster: Riley Newman, Christian Alshon, Jackie Kawamoto, Rachel Rohrabacher, Chris Haworth, and Hannah Blatt

Las Vegas Night Owls

Roster: Zoey Wang, Liz Truluck, Blaine Hovenier, Roscoe Bellamy, Braden Jacobson, and Callie Smith

LA Mad Drops

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

Phoenix Flames

Roster: Alix Truong, Jonathan Truong, Wyatt Stone, Cam Chaffin, Alexa Schull, and Daria Walczak

SoCal Hard Eights

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

Utah Black Diamonds

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

Pool B

Atlanta Bouncers

Roster: Jaume Martinez Vich, Jay Devilliers, Jessie Irvine, Kaitlyn Christian, Keilly Ulery, and Donald Young

Bay Area Breakers

Roster: Pablo Tellez, Genie Erokhina, Luc Pham, Mya Bui, Len Yang, and Ella Yeh

Orlando Squeeze

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

Palm Beach Royals

Roster: Sofia Sewing, Tyson McGuffin, Dekel Bar, Tina Pisnik, Tammy Emmrich, and Grayson Goldin

St. Louis Shock

Roster: Anna Bright, Hayden Patriquin, Gabe Tardio, Kate Fahey, Elsie Hendershot, and John Lucian Goins

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