Miracle Comeback: Chicago Wins MLP Title

Major League Pickleball calls its decisive fifth sets “dreambreakers,” not tiebreakers. Tuesday’s league final showed why. With the MLP crown on the line, the Chicago Slice broke the 2-2 deadlock – and, presumably, their opponents’ dreams – defeating the top-seeded Orlando Squeeze by a score of 21-18 in the match's fifth game. Lacy Schneemann took home the tournament’s MVP honors after sealing match point for the Slice, capping the two-day event at the Life Time Rancho San Clemente in Orange County, CA.

Chicago’s path to the final wasn’t any less nerve-wracking. As the No. 3 seed in the tournament, they were relegated to the single-elimination side of the bracket, while the top two seeds were given two chances to reach the finals. The Slice cruised to a 3-1 win over the No. 4 seed Miami Pickleball Club. But after Orlando made quick work of the No. 2 seed D.C. Pickleball Team, punching their ticket to the final, Chicago had to take on the squad from the nation’s capital for the right to play Orlando.

D.C. got out to a commanding 2-0 lead, behind a dominant game from men’s doubles duo Christian Alshon and Riley Newman. But Chicago stormed back, taking both mixed-doubles games by a combined score of 42-26 to even the match’s score at two. In a sign of things to come, the match headed to a dreambreaker – which consists of four sets of one-on-one matchups. After an even first half of the set, D.C. pulled ahead to a 20-16 lead, forcing match point. But Chicago wouldn’t go away that easily. First Ben Johns took the last two of his for points against Alshon to cut the deficit to two.

Then Schneemann took over. The eventual MVP forced a tiebreaker to the tiebreaker by evening the score at 20, before taking the final two points to punch the Slice’s ticket to the final.

Tuesday’s match unfolded in nearly identical fashion. Orlando took a commanding 2-0 lead behind a dominant women’s doubles performance. But Chicago had one more trick up their proverbial sleeve. The Slice once again took both mixed-doubles games to force the dreambreaker. And from there, Schneemann once again took over with her late-game heroics.

Meanwhile on the Challenger Level Side...

On the MLP Challenger Level side of the event, consisting of players taken in the second half of the league’s draft, the story was less complicated. With a spot in the final already clinched by the undefeated SoCal Hard Eights, the St. Louis Shock took on the California BLQK Bears to determine the final spot in the title match. The Shock didn’t exactly cruise to a victory – their women’s doubles team lost the first game in lopsided fashion – but thorough wins in the next three games let St. Louis comfortably clinch their spot in the final.

But contrary to their name, they couldn’t shock the heavy favorites. The Hard Eights took the women’s doubles game behind a hectic 27-25 on six tiebreakers. After that, it was smooth sailing. Behind eventual MVP Todd Fought, the men’s doubles squad jumped out to an 11-3 lead. St. Louis battled back but it was too-little, too-late for the Shock, who fell by a score of 21-18. Fought stayed on the court, this time joined by Yana Newell as his doubles partner, and the two suffocated the Shock by a score of 21-12, sealing SoCal’s undefeated season.

The Future of Professional Pickleball

Major League Pickleball will look different when it returns next year. The league announced a merger with the Professional Pickleball Association in September. The leagues had previously agreed to merge in 2022, but the deal fell through. Exactly what that means remains to be seen. MLP said they're currently working with the PPA to decide on their format moving forward.