Waters/Khlif Run Win Streak to 10 as New Jersey, St. Louis Set Up MLP Mid-Season Final Rubber Match
Both top seeds rolled through Saturday's semifinals at the Edward Jones MLP Mid-Season Tournament, setting up a third New Jersey-St. Louis meeting of the season for Sunday's title.
New Jersey and St. Louis both won convincingly in Saturday's semifinals at the Edward Jones MLP Mid-Season Tournament, setting up a third meeting between the top two seeds this season in Sunday's final. ▶ pickleball.com (news wire) ↗
The 5s beat the Columbus Sliders 3-1, clinched by Anna Leigh Waters and Noe Khlif's 11-7 win over Parris Todd and Andrei Daescu — their tenth straight win as a partnership, pushing their record together to 23-2. ▶ pickleball.com (news wire) ↗
"I honestly feel like Ben and Noe play kind of similar in a way," Waters said. "Maybe Noe doesn't flick quite as much as Ben, but he has the same backhand dink consistency. His drops are very similar; he shows a little bit more emotion than Ben does on the court, but it's overall very similar, so I love playing with him."
St. Louis needed all four games to put away the Los Angeles Mad Drops 3-1. Anna Bright and Kate Fahey rallied from a blown 7-1 lead to beat Catherine Parenteau and Jade Kawamoto 12-10, and a Blue Card on Parenteau — for hitting a ball that struck a fan — swung a men's doubles point to Hayden Patriquin and Gabe Tardio, who closed it out 12-10 over Ben Johns and Max Freeman. ▶ pickleball.com (news wire) ↗
New Jersey and St. Louis split their two prior meetings this season — a Shock DreamBreaker win at MLP Dallas, then a 5s sweep at MLP Columbus a week later. The rubber match airs Sunday at 3pm ET on FOX for the mid-season title and 10 standings points. ▶ pickleball.com (news wire) ↗
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Top seeds New Jersey, St. Louis set to clash for Mid-Season crown
pickleball.com (news wire)
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