Major League Pickleball brought the heat to Daytona Beach, and no one turned up the temperature more than the LA Mad Drops. Entering the event ranked 8th, the team shook up the standings with a breakout performance. Catherine Parenteau had an outstanding performance, delivering wins that helped topple the St. Louis Shock. This surge handed the Shock their only loss of the season so far and reshuffled the rankings. The Shock now sit in second place, with the undefeated Dallas Flash in first.
The PPA Tour made its way to California for the Orange County Cup, where Anna Leigh Waters continued to dominate the competition alongside her new mixed doubles partner, Anna Bright. Waters earned another triple crown at the event, with gold medals in women’s singles and mixed doubles alongside partner Ben Johns. The win marked a milestone 50th mixed doubles title for Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters. Catherine Parenteau built on her standout performance at MLP Daytona Beach, making it to the finals of all three events and winning silver in both women’s singles and women’s doubles with teammate Rachel Rohrabacher. In men’s singles, Hunter Johnson defeated Federico Staksrud to claim the gold. Meanwhile, Ben Johns claimed the gold in men’s doubles with partner Gabe Tardio after a fierce five-game showdown for the medal against Federico Staksrud and Hayden Patriquin.
