St. Louis Shock Fall in Major League Pickleball Final as New Jersey 5s Win First Season Title
ST. LOUIS, Mo. — The St. Louis Shock of St. Louis, Missouri, lost the Major League Pickleball final on November 8 to the New Jersey 5s, who claimed the franchise's first season-long title.
Saturday's first match went to a DreamBreaker, which New Jersey won narrowly after saving a match point. Sunday's second match again went the distance through all four doubles games: New Jersey won both gender doubles, St. Louis took both must-win mixed doubles, and the title came down to another DreamBreaker, which New Jersey dominated 21-9.
New Jersey had fallen one match short of the title in each of the previous two seasons before finally breaking through on its third try. Anna Leigh Waters, 19, won her first MLP title, and Federico Staksrud was named Finals MVP after going 4-2 in doubles over the weekend and outscoring the Shock's Hunter Johnson 13-7 across the two DreamBreakers.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 匹克球球拍与球。（Joanbanjo 摄，CC BY-SA 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons）
