MLP Edward Jones San Clemente Event Preview

Major League Pickleball (MLP) is back after a brief hiatus while the PPA Tour put on the Select Medical Orange County Cup last weekend. MLP is hosting the event at the same venue - LifeTime Rancho San Clemente - one of the most iconic venues in the country.

The Edward Jones MLP San Clemente event is taking place starting Thursday, June 26, and ends Sunday, June 29.

The weather looks to be absolutely perfect for play this weekend:

Let’s get into the action.

Current standings headed into Edward Jones MLP San Clemente

The teams highlighted in light red above are playing in the Edward Jones MLP San Clemente event

Challenger Level Standings

Schedule and How to Watch the Edward Jones MLP San Clemente

Match Grid of MLP San Clemente - Blue = Premier, Peach = Challenger

There are a total of six Premier teams playing in MLP San Clemente. Each team plays the following amount of matches:

All six Challenger Level teams are also in attendance and will play every other team once. 

There are a total of 29 matches being played in San Clemente - 14 in Premier and 15 in Challenger.

Notable Player Injuries/Illnesses

The on-site alternates for MLP San Clemente are AJ Koller, Rafa Hewett, Greg Dow, and Lara Giltinan. 

The Brooklyn Pickleball Team men are in rough shape. Dekel Bar is dealing with an illness and Riley Newman is dealing with a hip issue he sustained while playing in MLP Phoenix a few weeks ago. They have Pat Smith as a sub, but he also may be under the weather - I detail their issues in the team by team preview.

Tyler Loong, a member of the Utah Black Diamonds, is also questionable. He was seen on his most recent KOTC podcast episode wearing a soft cast and bandage around his right wrist from an apparent injury on a dirt bike. Since the left hand isn’t affected, he is going to give it a go in San Clemente.

Team by Team Preview

Premier Level

The order of team previews is in the order of their standings, from best to worst.

Brooklyn Pickleball Team

Points Per Match (PPM) & Standings: 11 matches played, 23 points, 2.09 PPM, 4th in PPM

# San Clemente Matches: 4

Opponents: LA, PHX, SoCal, Utah

Projected Starters: Rachel Rohrabacher, Jackie Kawamoto, Dekel Bar, and Riley Newman, Pat Smith (sub), AJ Koller (on-site alternate)

Bench: Hannah Blatt 

Brooklyn is decimated with injuries/illnesses on the men's side. Dekel isn’t playing, and neither is Riley. Pat Smith is iffy, and 2025 super sub AJ Koller will fill in. If Smith can’t go, I think Brooklyn turns to Rafa Hewett.

Jackie and Rachel are going to have to carry this team to winning some points this weekend. 

The only good news? They do play SoCal and Phoenix, which are winnable matches, no matter who Brooklyn trots out there. Additionally, Utah is also dealing with injuries, so they may have a winnable one there as well.

Predicted Points: 5 points out of a max of 12. Brooklyn takes a step back in San Clemente, due to their health issues. They drop to 1.87 PPM and are tied with Orlando for 8th place in the standings after San Clemente.

LA Mad Drops

Points Per Match (PPM) & Standings: 14 matches played, 28 points, 2 PPM, 5th in PPM

# San Clemente Matches: 5

Opponents: SoCal, Brooklyn, Utah, Columbus, Phoenix

Projected Starters: Catherine Parenteau, Jade Kawamoto, Quang Duong, Hunter Thomas

Bench: Danna Funaro and Wes Burrows

The Mad Drops are one of the four teams hosting this event and they are looking to declare themselves title contenders. The Mad Drops should win against SoCal, a depleted Brooklyn team, Utah, and Phoenix. The biggest question mark is - how good is Columbus. We will answer that question at 10am on Sunday morning (I am on the call for this one with Michelle McMahon, and I am pumped for it).

Predicted Points: 14 points out of a max of 15. LA goes 5-0 in San Clemente, only dropping one point with a Dreambreaker win over the Sliders.

Columbus Sliders

Points Per Match (PPM) & Standings: 11 matches played, 20 points, 1.82 PPM, 8th in PPM

# San Clemente Matches: 4

Opponents: SoCal, Utah, LA, Phoenix

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

Bench: Marcela Hones and Ross Whittaker

Columbus is the last unknown in my book. We haven’t seen them play since MLP Columbus, in the first week of May. At the time, I thought the schedule was not kind to Columbus, but hindsight being 20/20, it worked out. Jansen had a foot/ankle injury and was able to fully recover during the extended break from MLP.

Columbus has title hopes - or at least hopes to make a deep run in the playoffs. They have only played five matches fully healthy as a team. Roscoe Bellamy (who was subsequently stolen in waivers) played six matches in MLP Columbus for an ill CJ Klinger. Who are the Sliders? We shall find out in San Clemente.

Predicted Points: 10 of a possible 12 points. Columbus solidifies their standing, well in the playoff hunt, and they leapfrog over Orlando, Texas, and Brooklyn and take over the 5th spot.

Utah Black Diamonds

Points Per Match (PPM) & Standings: 15 matches played, 19 points, 1.27 PPM, 9th in PPM

# San Clemente Matches: 5

Opponents: Phoenix, LA, Columbus, SoCal, Brooklyn

Projected Starters: Allyce Jones, Genie Erokhina, Connor Garnett, and Tyler Loong (?)

Bench: Mehvish Safdar and Yates Johnson

Utah usually doesn’t travel its subs, but Yates is on site, in case the injury to Loong’s right wrist is worse than expected. Safdar will not be on-site because she is playing in the PPA Challanger Rochester, NY event this weekend.

I have no idea how to predict what Utah will do. How healthy is Tyler? Does he need to take a match or two off? Is Yates ready to come in and play well right away?

Predicted Points: 5 points of a possible 10. Utah is also hit with the injury bug and falls to 1.2 PPM, but doesn’t fall at all in the standings.

Phoenix Flames

Points Per Match (PPM) & Standings: 14 matches played, 9 points, 0.64 PPM, 13th in PPM

# San Clemente Matches: 5

Opponents: Utah, Brooklyn, SoCal, Columbus, LA

Projected Starters: Jessie Irvine, Genie Bouchard, Tyson McGuffin, and Jack Sock

Bench: Alex Walker and Pesa Teoni

Let’s face it - the Flames are A TON of fun to watch, but they are not a good team. I do expect them to perform better than the mean this year, but mostly because the other teams are decimated with injury.

Crazy stat - we are more than 50% of the way through the Premier Level MLP season and only one team doesn’t have a regulation win - you guessed it, the Phoenix Flames. I am predicting Phoenix gets their first regulation win in MLP San Clemente.

Predicted Points: 7 of a possible 15, helping Phoenix leapfrog over the Altanta Bouncers, to take over the 12th place in the standings.

SoCal Hard Eights

Points Per Match (PPM) & Standings: 14 matches played, 7 points, 0.5 PPM, T-15th in PPM

# San Clemente Matches: 5

Opponents: LA, Brooklyn, Phoenix, Brooklyn, Utah

Projected Starters: Cailyn Campbell, Jalina Ingram, Blaine Hovenier, Ryan Fu

Bench: Irina Tereschenko and John Lucian Goins

SoCal has been all over the place this year in terms of roster changes, trades, waiver wires, etc. Either way, this is not a good MLP team and they are not making the playoffs.

However, if they are looking for bright spots, Jalina Ingram is improving quickly, and Cailyn Campbell could be the next young star (we haven’t seen her play MLP yet). Additionally, Blaine Hovenier continues to be the best hype guy in all of MLP and his results are good too. He is playing sneaky good pickleball.

With all of those bright spots being pointed out, I don't think SoCal wins mny points in San Clemente.

Predicted Points: 1 point out of a possible 15, dropping them to last place, and nearly sealing their fate as the first team to be mathematically eliminated. Nearly.

Challenger Level Teams

Las Vegas Night Owls

Points Per Match (PPM) & Standings: 5 matches played, 13 points, 2.6 PPM, 1st in PPM

# San Clemente Matches: 5

Opponents: Nashville, CBB, BAB, Florida, D.C.

Roster: Brooke Buckner, Zoey Wang, Pablo Tellez, James Delgado

The Night Owls are for sure the class of the Challenger Level. In either an ironic coincidence, or a copy/paste situation, the Night Owls play the same order of teams they did in MLP Austin.

Delgado is one of the best surprises for me in Challenger Level this year.

Predicted Points: 14 points out of a max of 15. 

Nashville Chefs

Points Per Match (PPM) & Standings: 5 matches played, 10 points, 2 PPM, 2nd in PPM

# San Clemente Matches: 5

Opponents: LV, FL, CBB, BAB, D.C.

Roster: Ewa Radzkikowska, Michelle Esquivel, Anderson Scarpa, Marshall Brown

Nashville doesn’t have the greatest schedule in San Clemente, having to start off the campaign against the Challenger best Las Vegas Night Owls. From there, though, things get decidedly easier. 

Nashville was the surprise of the MLP Austin event, where I had no idea how well they would finish. Starting the MLP San Clemente event off in second place proves they are title contenders.

Predicted Points: 9 points out of a max of 15 - the Chefs take a slight step back, in the overall season standings.

D.C. Pickleball Team

Points Per Match (PPM) & Standings: 5 matches played, 9 points, 1.8 PPM, 3rd in PPM

# San Clemente Matches: 5

Opponents: BAB, Florida, CBB, LV, Nashville

Roster: Andrea Koop, Christa Gecheva, Daniel De La Rosa, Stefan Auvergne

The D.C. Pickleball Team made a trade with the New Jersey 5s directly after the Challenger Level Waiver Period. They acquired Christa Gecheva and cash in exchange for Mari Humberg.

D.C. was very good in doubles in Austin, but not good in Dreambreakers. I don’t know how much better they get with Gecheva, but I think she is excited to be playing, rather than sitting on the bench for the 5s. The real question is - how quickly can this new D.C. team gel?

Predicted Points: 6 points out of a max of 15 - D.C. has some unexpected losses getting the new teammates to gel.

California Black Bears

Points Per Match (PPM) & Standings: 5 matches played, 5 points, 1 PPM, T-4th in PPM

# San Clemente Matches: 5

Opponents: Florida, LV, Nashville, D.C., BAB

Roster: Lina Padigemaite, Layne Sleeth, Michael Loyd, and Juan Benitez

California is the second Challenger Level team on the list that has a new squad member. Right before the second Premier Waiver Period, They traded Rafa Hewett and cash to the Texas Ranchers, in exchange for Michael Loyd.

Loyd was one of the best Premier Level subs, and did a great job for Texas, but I am guessing he is loving the idea of playing regularly. Similar to the Gecheva question, how quickly can Loyd gel with his new teammates. I expect this team to do well in women’s doubles, and mixed doubles. I think it will take a while for Loyd and Benitez to figure stuff out in men’s.

Predicted Points: 8 points out of a possible 15, moving them up slightly in the standings.

Bay Area Breakers

Points Per Match (PPM) & Standings: 5 matches played, 5 points, 1 PPM, T-4th in PPM

# Austin Matches: 5

Opponents: D.C., Las Vegas, Florida, CBB, Nashville

Roster: Alix Truong, Angie Walker, DJ Young, and Eric Roddy

Bay Area was very up and down in MLP Austin, and I expect a little bit of the same in San Clemente. Bay Area traded Danna Funaro and cash to the LA Mad Drops for Angie Walker, directly after the MLP Austin event.

Walker is definitely an upgrade in terms of experience, but the question is - can Bay Area turn the added experience into standings points.

Predicted Points: 5 points out of a possible 15, staying where they are in the standings, in 5th place.

Florida Smash

Points Per Match (PPM) & Standings: 5 matches played, 3 points, 0.6 PPM, 6th in PPM

# San Clemente Matches: 5

Opponents: CBB, Nashville, D.C., LV, BAB

Roster: Martina Frantova, Paula Rives Palau, Travis Rettenmaier, Cason Campbell

Florida was the only team to make a waiver claim during the first and only waiver claim period for the Challenger Level. 

Palau played in MLP Australia before signing full-time with the UPA in the USA. Florida did not have a good Austin event. They beat the Black Bears in their first match, and then didn’t earn another point. Cason Campbell looks very solid in doubles and is getting better. I like the fight of this team.

Predicted Points: 5 points out of a possible 15, inching them closer to the Breakers in 5th place.