The Shock to Host MLP St. Louis at the Chaifetz Arena - A Preview

The eighth regular season MLP event is a day away, being hosted by the St. Louis Shock. Chaifetz Arena, a 10,000+ seat arena on the University of St. Louis campus, is hosting. 

The Chaifetz’s own both the arena and the St. Louis Shock. The Shock is hoping to have the best MLP event in history, and have done a ton of marketing for this event.

The competition will be stiff - five of the six teams would be in the playoffs if they started today.

Top Storylines 

The Dallas Flash is still undefeated and could lock up a top seed if they do well in St. Louis.

The St. Louis Shock lost to the Flash in the Mid-Season Tournament and are looking for revenge on their home turf.

The Brooklyn Pickleball Team and Columbus Sliders end their regular season in St. Louis, both hoping to finish top four.

Can the St. Louis Shock prove that MLP in an indoor arena is the future of MLP?

The Chicago Slice are in 10th place, the last playoff spot - can they keep a hold of it?

Matches Per Team 

Due to a previous scheduling issue, Brooklyn and Chicago will play each other twice in MLP St. Louis.

Team Standings Headed into MLP St. Louis

The six teams participating in the event are highlighted in light blue.

Match Grid and How to Watch MLP St. Louis

Light blue is Premier Level and peach is Challenger Level.

Weather Outlook

I always do a weather outlook for each event I preview. This one is short. It doesn’t matter - the entire event is in the Chaiftez Center, which is an indoor arena.

Best Seven Matchups of the Event

Friday, July 18

• 3pm - Dallas Flash v Brooklyn Pickleball Team
• 4:15pm (Challenger) - Las Vegas Night Owls v Nashville Chefs
• 5pm - St. Louis Shock v Columbus Sliders

Saturday, July 19

• Noon - Dallas Flash v Columbus Sliders
• 5:15pm - St. Louis Shock v Dallas Flash

Sunday, July 20

• 12:45pm - Brooklyn Pickleball Team v Columbus Sliders
• 4:15pm - St. Louis Shock v Brooklyn Pickleball Team

Team by Team Analysis

Dallas Flash

Points Per Match (PPM) & Standings: 14 matches played, 46 points, 3.29 PPM, 1st in PPM

# Matches: 5

Opponents: Brooklyn, Columbus, St. Louis, Chicago, Atlanta

Projected Starters: Jorja Johnson, Hurricane Tyra Black, JW Johnson, Augie Ge

Bench: Tatiana Ruhl and Ivan Jakovljevic

The Flash are still undefeated on the season, including the four matches they played in the Mid-Season Tournament. In fact, they are so good right now, that they are averaging 3.29 points per match, when the most you can gain from a match is three points. However, with the added extra six points from the Mid-Season Tournament, the Flash is above 3 points per match.

The Flash have three very tough matches to play right off the bat, and then the intensity eases up on Sunday. 

They have beat Brooklyn, Columbus, and St. Louis 3-1 in their last outings, but if they have a bad day, I could see the Flash dropping some points.

The toughest test for the Flash, in my opinion, are the Sliders and the Shock. In the finals, Anna Bright lost both her games for the Shock, which never happens. Additionally, the Sliders women beat the Flash women when they played. If the Sliders men can step up or perhaps a mixed doubles matchup switch happens, I could see the Sliders winning in a Dreambreaker.

Are the Flash going to drop a ton of points? No. But I do think they take their first loss in over 230 days while they are in St. Louis.

Predicted Points: The Flash earn 12 points from their possible 15, keeping them set up for a 1st place finish. 

St. Louis Shock

Points Per Match (PPM) & Standings: 14 matches played, 43 points, 3.07 PPM, 2nd in PPM

# Matches: 5

Opponents: Atlanta, Columbus, Chicago, Dallas, Brooklyn

Projected Starters: Anna Bright, Kate Fahey, Hayden Patriquin, Gabe Tardio

Bench: Judit Castillo and Erik Lange

The Shock played extremely well in the Mid-Season Tournament, falling just short of the title against the Flash. Anna Bright being the competitor that she is, is not going to feel good about that loss, and I think it fuels her and her team to a dominant weekend in their home city.

I do like their schedule a bit better than the Flash - they start off easier with Atlanta, before playing Columbus. However, they finish off against Dallas and then Brooklyn. The Shock still have a shot at the #1 seed, but obviously need the Flash to fall off a bit.

Look for Bright and Fahey to come out even angrier and more determined than normal and help their team earn a bunch of standings points. 

Predicted Points: The Shock do well, earning 11 points out of a possible 15.

Brooklyn Pickleball Team

Points Per Match (PPM) & Standings: 19 matches played, 44 points, 2.32 PPM, 4th in PPM

# Matches: 6

Opponents: Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, Chicago, Columbus, St. Louis

Projected Starters: Rachel Rohrabacher, Jackie Kawamoto, Riley Newman, and AJ Koller (or someone else)

Bench: Hannah Blatt and Pat Smith

Brooklyn has played admirably without their full squad ever since MLP Phoenix. Riley hurt his adductor in that one, Dekel contracted COVID since then (and messed up a rib while coughing), and Pat Smith contracted walking pneumonia. 

Rachel and Jackie have been unbelievable, while AJ Koller and Pat Smith have filled in. 

Honestly, I have no idea who is going to be the second guy for Brooklyn in MLP St. Louis. Could Dekel make it back? Is AJ Koller going to play in his 47th MLP event this year?

I think Brooklyn struggles a bit in St. Louis because the competition is so tough.

Predicted Points: Brooklyn earns 11 points from St. Louis, and drops one standings point behind the Sliders.

Columbus Sliders

Points Per Match (PPM) & Standings: 20 matches played, 45 points, 2.25 PPM, 5th in PPM

# Matches: 5

Opponents: Chicago, St. Louis, Dallas, Atlanta, Brooklyn

Projected Starters: Parris Todd, Lea Jansen, Andrei Daescu, CJ Klinger

Bench: Marcela Hones and Ross Whittaker

The Sliders had a great run in the Mid-Season Tournament, Lea and Parris are playing very well. This team continues to get better and better and is definitely riding a high right now.

The last match with Brooklyn could be a huge decision maker in terms of who takes the 4 seed and who gets the 5 seed. The reason this is important, is because the top 4 seeds will get home field advantage in the second round of the playoffs in San Diego. It is highly likely that they would play each other in that playoff matchup, so gaining every advantage now is key.

Additionally, the Sliders lost 1-3 to the Flash in the MST, but lost two games 8-11. If they can win one of those games, I think they have a shot in a Dreambreaker against the Flash.

Predicted Points: The Sliders earn 11 points in St. Louis, beating Brooklyn by 1 point in the overall standings.

Chicago Slice

Points Per Match (PPM) & Standings: 14 matches played, 14 points, 1 PPM, 10th in PPM

# Matches: 6

Opponents: Atlanta, Brooklyn, Columbus, Brooklyn, St. Louis, Dallas

Projected Starters: James Ignatowich, Max Freeman, Callie Smith, and Viv Glozman

Bench: Pierina Imparato and Carlos Di Laura

Chicago is in 10th and not looking very dangerous for the playoffs. James Ignatowich couldn’t go more than one match in the mid-season tournament before some sort of ailment sidelined him. 

Viv and Callie haven’t exactly gelled, and Max Freeman hasnt taken that big leap forward we thought he would this year.

If the Slice wwantsto pick up some momentum going into their last event of the year, they are going to need to beat Atlanta in regulation, and take points off of at least two other teams - a tall task.

Predicted Points: The Slice pick up 3 points in St. Louis.

Atlanta Bouncers

Points Per Match (PPM) & Standings: 15 matches played, 12 points, 0.8 PPM, 13th in PPM

# Matches: 5

Opponents: Chicago, St. Louis, Brooklyn, Columbus, Dallas

Projected Starters: Jaume Martinez Vich, Todd Fought, Vivienne David, and Victoria DiMuzio

Bench: Eric Roddy and Rachel Rettger

Atlanta, Atlanta, Atlanta. 

At one point in the MST, Atlanta had Eric Roddy and play for them. Atlanta has a tough last ten matches on their schedule and MLP St. Louis is brutal.

The facts are: I haven’t seen Jaume play in what feels like forever, in fact it will nearly be a month since he played on the PPA Tour, if he suits up in St. Louis.

I don’t see this squad really coming together to do anything meaningful in St. Louis.

Predicted Points: The Bouncers don't earn a point in St. Louis.