Upsets Galore - MLP Daytona Beach Recap

One of the biggest storylines headed into MLP Daytona Beach was the lack of parity from the top of the Premier Level to the bottom. The top eight teams were a combined 42-0 against the bottom eight teams. 

Well, Daytona Beach delivered. There were three big upsets in the event, with two of them being bottom eight teams over top eight teams.

The last place Carolina Hogs upset the Texas Ranchers in a Dreambreaker.

The ninth place Utah Black Diamonds upset the third place New Jersey 5s in a Dreambreaker.

The LA Mad Drops (8th) defeated the then first place St. Louis Shock in a Dreambreaker, which was the Shock’s first loss this year.

Let’s get into the action.

Originally scheduled for Salt Lake City, Major League Pickleball moved the event to Daytona Beach. The Salt Lake City event will now take place July 31 - August 3.

Pictona at Holly Hill was able to step up and host this MLP Daytona Beach event, and it delivered.

Nine Premier Level teams competed in Daytona Beach, with all of them playing either five or six matches.

Team Standings after MLP Daytona Beach

In the “Change” column, you can see the movement of each team. The LA Mad Drops had the best outcome of MLP Daytona, moving up 3 standings spots, while no team lost more than one.

Top Ten Players from MLP Daytona Beach

This is a screenshot from my Public 2025 MLP Data Google Sheet, showing the top 10 players from MLP Daytona. This sheet has a ton of stats and data related to the 2025 MLP season. If you haven’t checked it out yet, get on it.

For this event recap, I am going to categorize teams into four separate categories:

• Winners
• They are who we thought they were
• Not great
• Losers

Winners

LA Mad Drops

The Mad Drops proved two things in MLP Daytona Beach:

• They are title contenders when everyone is healthy and not suspended
• The Mad Drops probably have the best Dreambreaker team in MLP

The Mad Drops were the first team to beat the St. Louis Shock all season, and they did so in a Dreambreaker.

The Mad Drops went on to beat Carolina in regulation, then beat the Ranchers in another Dreambreaker, and then beat NY and Chicago in regulation on Sunday. The Mad Drops were the only team to go undefeated in MLP Daytona Beach, earning 2.6 points per match (ppm).

The backbone of the Mad Drops is the women. Catherine and Jade have now beat Hurricane Tyra Black and Jorja Johnson, Kate Fahey and Anna Bright, and Meghan Dizon and Anna Leigh Waters. They are ranked as the third-best women’s team, behind the Flash and the Shock. They had a weird loss to Miami in MLP Orlando, and lost 10-12 to the Ranchers women in Daytona Beach.

This team moved up from 8th to 5th in the standings, and has hopes to jump even higher in the rankings in a few weeks at MLP San Clemente, where they are hosting.

Utah Black Diamonds

Utah continued to impress, after a great performance in MLP Phoenix last week. Utah earned 1.5 ppm, earning 9 points in 6 matches. The biggest win of the event (and of the season) was the Dreambreaker win over the New Jersey 5s on Thursday.

Christa Gecheva subbed for Meghan Dizon on Thursday (illness) and Anna Leigh Waters/Gecheva barely beat Allyce Jones and Genie Erokhina, 13-11. Then Navratil and Howells pickled Loong and Garnett. The match looked over.

Instead, Garnett and Jones beat Howells and Waters 11-8, and then Erokhina and Loong beat Navratil and Gecheva 11-5, forcing the Dreambreaker. 

The Black Diamonds didn’t move in the standings - they started off in 9th, and remained in 9th, after MLP Daytona Beach. However, the were at 1.11 ppm, and are now at 1.27 ppm, 0.2 ppm ahead of Miami, in 10th. It feels like Utah is one puzzle piece away from possibly jumping into the top six, with a first round bye in the playoffs.

They are who we thought they were

This category is for the two teams that did what I thought they were going to do. Anytime I can insert a Dennis Green gif into an article, I am going to do it.

St. Louis Shock

Yes, the Shock got upset by the LA Mad Drops (which I called, btw).

However, after the loss, what did St. Louis do? They won 4-0, 3-1, 4-0, 4-0, and 4-0. So after losing to the Mad Drops, they won five straight matches, and went 19-1 in those games. I would say the Mad Drops loss lit a fire in the Shock players. 

They are easily a top two team, and did what they needed to do, earning the most amount of points and highest ppm in Daytona Beach, despite the early loss.

New Jersey 5s

In a very similar story, the 5s were upset on Thursday by the Black Diamonds. After that? 4-0, 4-0, 3-1, and 3-1. 

The Utah loss looked like it sparked something in the 5s. When they came out Saturday, they were firing on all cylinders. The only real blemish they had between Saturday and Sunday was the weird men’s loss to the NY Hustlers (who had Madonia and Koller). Other than that, they performed very well.

Not Great

Texas Ranchers

The Ranchers had high hopes going into MLP Daytona Beach, and they left the event not meeting their own high expectations.

First, they lost to the last place Carolina Hogs in a Dreambreaker. They quickly bounced back, beating Utah, 4-0. On Saturday, they beat the Hustlers, 3-1, but then lost to the Mad Drops in a Dreambreaker. 

On Sunday, they looked flat against the Shock, losing 4-0, with a combined score of 45-18. However, they were able to pull off a 4-0 win against SoCal to end the event. 

Overall, the Ranchers dropped .07 ppm, going from 2.00 to 1.93, and dropped from 5th place to 6th place. They confirmed that they are one of the worst Dreambreaker teams in Premier, having now lost all three of their Dreambreaker attempts.

The Ranchers men are the third-best men’s team this year, with a record of 10-4. The women, however, are sixth, with an 8-6 record. Alshon and Tuionetoa have combined for a 7-5 record, leaving them well outside the top 10 best mixed doubles teams, despite being one of the best pairings on paper.

The Ranchers left Daytona Beach with more questions than answers.

Chicago Slice

The Slice traded Viv David for Viv Glozman right before the Daytona Beach event.

Did it have a huge effect on the Slice? No, it did not. The Slice were in 11th place at 1 ppm before Daytona. After Daytona? They are in 11th place at 1 ppm. They earned six points in their six matches.

The Slice may squeak into the playoffs, but I don’t think they scare many teams. They aren’t great at Dreambreakers (although they did beat Utah, who also beat New Jersey - so this is puzzling).

In order to even make the playoffs, I think the Slice are really going to have to step up their game in the last 11 matches they play. They are going to need to earn at least 13 or 14 points from those matches in order to have a realistic chance.

Losers

SoCal, New York, and Carolina

These three teams basically sealed their fates of not making the playoffs in 2025.

By my estimation, the SoCal Hard Eights and the Carolina Hogs would need to average 1.91 ppm in their last 11 matches to have a shot at the playoffs. They are both currently averaging 0.5 ppm. 

Similarly, the Hustlers would need to average 1.67 ppm, and they are averaging 0.62 ppm right now.

New York was decimated with injuries, and mostly played a lineup of Lingwei Kong, Domi Schaefer, Stephen Madonia, and AJ Koller (on-site alternate). The best bright spot for the Hustlers this weekend was Domi Schaefer - I thought she played great, and above the level I expected.

The bright spot for the Hard Eights continues to be Blaine Hovenier and his energy, along with Jalina Ingram jumping into a starting role. They aren’t winning many matches, but Ingram looks to be getting better every match.

Additionally, I think Judit Castillo is playing phenomenally, despite not having a bunch of wins under her belt.

For the Hogs, it was another “meh” weekend for them. The Johns brothers started off playing well, but toward the end of the weekend, the effort level was less than 100%. I don’t see this team getting above 1 point per match without at least two trades.

There is a quick break in the MLP season for the PPA Select Medical Orange County Cup, which starts June 16. MLP San Clemente follows that tournament right after, beginning June 26.