MLP First Round Playoffs Preview

The first round of the Major League Pickleball (MLP) playoffs is taking place this weekend at Pickler Universe in Carrollton, Texas. There are eight teams competing for four spots in the second round of the playoffs next weekend in Newport Beach, California.

The top four seeds earned themselves a bye and are headed straight to Newport Beach next weekend:

1. New Jersey 5s
2. St. Louis Shock
3. Los Angeles Mad Drops
4. Columbus Sliders

This means the 5-12 seeds from the regular season are facing off in Dallas for a chance to face one of the top four seeds next weekend. The four matchups in Dallas are:

• #5 Brooklyn Pickleball Team v #10 SoCal Hard Eights
• #6 Dallas Flash v #11 Las Vegas Night Owls
• #7 Palm Beach Royals v #12 Chicago Slice
• #8 Texas Ranchers v #9 Atlanta Bouncers

Format of the Playoffs

Looking at the above matchups, you may wonder why Brooklyn isn't playing Chicago. Brooklyn is the top seed in this round of the playoffs and Chicago is the lowest seed in the playoffs. One very unique thing for MLP is that the top seeds get to choose their opponents.

Unlike the regular season, if a match is won 3-0, a fourth game will not be played.

Each playoff matchup is best two out of three matches. So if a team wins their first two matches, they move on. If it goes to a third match, the winner moves on and the loser goes home. In each matchup throughout the playoffs, the better seed is considered the home team in the first two matches. If a third match happens, there is a coin toss to determine the home team.

Home court matters because as the home team, you get to react to the other team's lineups, including their Dreambreaker lineup.

The second round of the playoffs is in Newport Beach next weekend where the top four seeds will play the winners this weekend. Two weeks after that, the semi-finals and finals will take place in New York City at City Pickle.

Broadcast Schedule of the MLP Dallas Playoffs

*All times listed are in local Central Daylight Time

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

Sunday, August 9

• MSG Network (12PM - 7PM EDT | 11AM - 6PM CDT Local)

Preview of each matchup

Note: Partner records listed are during the entire 2026 season, including the Mid-Season Tournament

#5 Brooklyn Pickleball Team v #10 SoCal Hard Eights

Major League Pickleball

Schedule:

• Match #1 - Saturday, Aug 8 ~2pm CDT
• Match #2 - Sunday, Aug 9 ~2pm CDT
• Match #3 (If necessary) - Sunday, Aug 9 ~5pm CDT

Rosters:

• Brooklyn: Christian Alshon, Rachel Rohrabacher, Jackie Kawamoto, Riley Newman, Chris Haworth, and Hannah Blatt
• SoCal: Meghan Dizon, Armaan Bhatia, Cailyn Campbell, Will Mackinnon, Rafa Lenhard, and Naomi Nguyen

Matchup History:

Brooklyn won the only matchup these two played this year, 4-0, on June 6th, in MLP St. Louis (indoors).

Scoreline from the only previous meeting of these two teams

Injury Concerns:

Brooklyn hasn't been healthy all year - Riley Newman is dealing with a bone bruise near his knee, Rachel Rohrabacher is dealing with an ankle injury sustained in MLP New York from the video board incident and hasn't played women's doubles in a while. We will see if the top four players will be healthy enough to play for Brooklyn this weekend.

SoCal is without arguably their best player, in Armaan Bhatia - he sustained an injury in MLP Chicago and is done for the remainder of the season.

Game By Game Preview:

Women's Doubles

• Anticipated lineups - Rachel/Jackie (10-3) v Meghan/Cailyn (12-15)
• What to watch - Is Rachel going to play? If so, I don't think SoCal has a chance in this one. If Hannah plays, SoCal will play through her - she has gotten a ton of good reps the past couple of events and is playing some of her best pickleball lately. Jackie has been the unsung hero of Brooklyn this year, through all of the injuries she has been the steady presence for the team.

From Anna Bright's newsletter Thursday morning

Men's Doubles

• Anticipated lineups - Christian/Riley (18-3) v Will/Rafa (0-8)
• What to watch - Rafa Lenhard is going to see a lot of balls in this one - he was drafted more as a singles specialist and has been thrown into a starting role with the loss of Bhatia. Mackinnon is going to have to play some of his best pickleball for the Hard Eights to have a chance.

Mixed Doubles #1

• Anticipated lineups - Rachel/Christian (16-4) v Cailyn/Will (10-18)
• What to watch - I think Brooklyn will assume they win both gender doubles games and will send out out whoever is healthier between Rachel and Riley first. Whether it is Rachel and Christian or Jackie and Riley, Cailyn and Will are not favored.

Mixed Doubles #2

• Anticipated lineups - Jackie/Riley (11-5) v Meghan/Rafa (5-4)
• What to watch - Unlike most mixed doubles matches, I think Rafa will see more balls than Meghan. He is going to have to prove he can hurt Jackie and Riley, otherwise they are just going to go to him over and over.

Tice's Prediction

Without knowing the health of both Rachel and Riley for Brooklyn, this one is tough. I still think SoCal is very outmatched in this one, so I am going to say Brooklyn wins in two matches, 3-0, and 3-1. SoCal's coach, Adam Stone, is going to need to pull out some sorcery for the Hard Eights to have a chance in this one.

#6 Dallas Flash v #11 Las Vegas Night Owls

Major League Pickleball

Schedule:

• Match #1 - Friday, Aug 7 ~5pm CDT
• Match #2 - Saturday, Aug 8 ~12:30pm CDT
• Match #3 (If necessary) - Sunday, Aug 9 ~11am CDT

Rosters:

• Dallas: JW Johnson, Danni-Elle Townsend, Augie Ge, Alix Truong, Brooke Buckner, and Ivan Jakovljevic
• Las Vegas: Roscoe Bellamy, Callie Smith, Clayton Powell, Chao Yi "Zoey" Wang, Liz Truluck, and Gabe Joseph

Matchup History:

The Dallas Flash won both matchups this year:

• July 9 - MLP Mid-Season Tournament - Dallas won 3-1

• July 23 - MLP Chicago - Dallas won 4-0

Injury Concerns: None

Game By Game Preview:

Women's Doubles

• Anticipated lineups - Alix/Danni (12-10 w/ Dallas, 4-1 w/ Columbus) v Callie/Zoey (4-9)
• What to watch - Callie and Zoey have played the past eight games together for the Night Owls. They have gone 3-5 in those games. Alix and Danni are going to focus on Zoey's backhand and are also going to make Callie convert a ton of dinks. Danni's reach out of the air will put tons of pressure on Vegas and Alix' elite ball making and resetting skills will make it tough on Vegas.

Men's Doubles

• Anticipated lineups - Augie/JW (22-10) v Clayton/Roscoe (6-11)
• What to watch - Clayton and Roscoe were 2-4 in Orlando, which isn't promising. However, they did have multiple game points on Hayden and Gabe in Orlando and couldn't close, losing 10-12. That should offer some positive momentum headed into this matchup. I think Roscoe is going to need to reach in and take everything out of the air to take time away from Augie. Clayton is also going to need to make a ton of dinks and be very careful and find the right spots if he decides to speed up at JW.

Mixed Doubles #1

• Anticipated lineups - Brooke/JW (19-10) v Zoey/Roscoe (16-6)
• What to watch - Dallas has to react, but they always play JW and Brooke first in mixed. This lineup gives the highest percentage chance of a Dreambreaker, but Dallas is probably confident in winning one of these matchups. This one comes down to one thing for me - whichever woman makes less unforced errors is going to win. An added storyline to this one is that Brooke was teammates with Zoey last year on the Night Owls, so these ladies know each other's game very well.

Mixed Doubles #2

• Anticipated lineups - Augie/Danni (16-3) v Liz/Clayton (3-10)
• What to watch - Vegas has been playing Liz and Clayton together the past couple of events. Her backhand drive is definitely top three on the women's side, so I think Dallas will return to Clayton to stop the drive and crash. Danni's presence out of the air against Liz is a problem - Clayton is going to have to keep Danni under pressure without letting her take much out of the air.

Tice's Prediction

Roscoe is going to have to play to 95% percent of his ability consistently throughout this matchup for Vegas to have a realistic chance. I think Vegas is slightly favored in a Dreambreaker, so they may sneak a win in one of the matches. Dallas wins 3-1 in two matches.

#7 Palm Beach Royals v #12 Chicago Slice

Schedule:

• Match #1 - Friday, Aug 7 ~2pm CDT
• Match #2 - Saturday, Aug 8 ~11am CDT
• Match #3 (If necessary) - Saturday, Aug 8 ~3:30pm CDT

Rosters:

• Palm Beach: Sofia Sewing, Tyson McGuffin, Dekel Bar, Tina Pisnik, Tammy Emmrich, and Casey Diamond
• Chicago: Zane Navratil, Jamie Wei, John Lucian Goins, Elsie Hendershot, Emma Nelson, and AJ Koller

Matchup History:

Palm Beach won the only matchup these two teams played in, in Orlando last week in an epic Dreambreaker:

Injury Concerns: None

Game By Game Preview:

Women's Doubles

• Anticipated lineups - Sofia/Tina (24-7) v Elsie/Jamie (8-9)
• What to watch - Elsie and Jamie took down Tina and Sofia for the first time in 18 games last week - Sofia and Tina are going to look for revenge in Dallas. I think Elsie is going to see a lot of balls when the teams get to the kitchen line and Palm Beach will dare her to speed up at Tina. Jamie has been very streaky recently, but when she is playing well she looks unstoppable - Chicago is going to need that version of Jamie throughout the weekend.

Men's Doubles

• Anticipated lineups - Tyson/Dekel (8-13) v Zane/John (7-6)
• What to watch - Goins is playing out of his mind lately, really stepping up when Chicago needed him most to make it into the playoffs. I think both teams will be happy getting into kitchen battles, so I could see men's in this one being long, drawn out points. Tyson and Zane are super consistent and I think this comes down to who is able to pull first and more often between JLG and Dekel.

Mixed Doubles #1

• Anticipated lineups - Tina/Dekel (15-9) v Jamie/JLG (5-7)
• What to watch - Chicago had been sending Elsie and AJ first, but switched this up because they want their best player (JLG) playing in both events, rather than hoping they make it to a fourth game. Tina and Dekel have a good, but not great record. If Dekel gets too big, things may go awry.

Mixed Doubles #2

• Anticipated lineups - Sofia/Casey (9-6) v Elsie/AJ (2-2)
• What to watch - Elsie and AJ won a big match against California to launch them into the playoffs. AJ will look to lob early and often, so Sofia and Casey better warm up their overheads. Elsie will see a lot of drives at her and will need to handle the pace, which she has proven she can do.

Tice's Prediction

This is one of the tighter matchups of the weekend. I don't expect Tina and Sofia to lose again to Elsie and Jamie, so that will make it tough for Chicago to win. I am taking Palm Beach to win 3-1 in both games, losing men's doubles in both.

#8 Texas Ranchers v #9 Atlanta Bouncers

Major League Pickleball

Schedule:

• Match #1 - Friday, Aug 7 ~3:30pm CDT
• Match #2 - Sunday, Aug 9 ~12:30pm CDT
• Match #3 (If necessary) - Sunday, Aug 9 ~3:30pm CDT

Rosters:

• Texas: Eric Oncins, Lea Jansen, Nico Acevedo, Kaitlyn Christian, Rafa Hewett, and Layne Sleeth
• Atlanta: Jaume Martinez Vich, Jessie Irvine, Mari Humberg, Jay Devilliers, Keilly Ulery, and Donald Young

Matchup History:

Atlanta won the only matchup between these two teams this year (MLP Austin in early June), but Kaitlyn was on the Bouncers and missed this event, while Layne was playing for Texas before her injury - not a ton to take from this one.

Injury Concerns: Layne Sleeth is still out with a right shoulder issue

Game By Game Preview:

Women's Doubles

• Anticipated lineups - Kaitlyn/Lea (5-10) v Jessie/Mari (12-5)
• What to watch - Jessie stays off the line and let's Mari poach what she wants through the middle. Jessie is by far the best player to play off the line and win speedups, so Lea is going to have to be on her game. I think Kaitlyn is going to see a lot of dinks and will have to hold up under the pressure.

Men's Doubles

• Anticipated lineups - Nico/Eric (19-7) v Jaume/Jay (15-15)
• What to watch - Nico and Eric lost the only matchup they had against Jaume and Jay, 7-11. They were still developing as a partnership then, so I think this one will be closer. Jay and Jaume have been playing great ball lately, going 5-3 in their last eight games. This one is going to be a slug fest of men's doubles and looks like it will be a "grind 'em out" type of match.

Mixed Doubles #1

• Anticipated lineups - Lea/Eric (10-4) v Jessie/Jay (16-7)
• What to watch - Eric is going to play 80% of the court at times and Jessie is going to try to speedup behind him whenever she can. The added intrigue of Jay vs. Lea will add drama in this one if this is indeed the matchup, as they have a history of not particularly liking each other. I think this one boils down to Eric - can he take over this game while also keeping his consistency up?

Mixed Doubles #2

• Anticipated lineups - Kaitlyn/Nico (8-5) v Mari/Jaume (8-7)
• What to watch - With Kaitlyn previous on the Bouncers, she knows Jaume's game and he knows hers. Nico is a freak athlete, and will need to push his athletic limits in this one, to put pressure on both Jaume and Mari. Mari on the right has less tools than when she is on the left, so Jaume will try to match Nico's ability to take over.

Tice's Prediction

This is the closest matchup of the weekend on paper. I could easily see this one go to three matches. Texas wins match #1, Atlanta takes match #2, and Texas wins in a Dreambreaker in match #3.