St. Louis Shock Hands New Jersey 5s First Loss In Heated MLP Showdown
Source: Pickleball.com
The St. Louis Shock (2-0) delivered the New Jersey 5s (5-1) their first defeat of the 2025 season in a 3-1 victory that featured just as much drama off the court as it did on it.
In the weekend's final showdown at the USTA National Campus, the Shock wasted no time taking control.
Anna Bright and Kate Fahey drew first blood, handing Anna Leigh Waters and Meghan Dizon their second women's doubles loss of the day. Shortly after, Hayden Patriquin and Gabe Tardio took care of business against Will Howells and Zane Navratil in men's doubles, giving St. Louis a commanding 2-0 advantage heading into mixed play.
New Jersey managed to pull one back when Waters and Howells cruised past Fahey and Patriquin 11-3 in the first mixed doubles match. That’s when emotions boiled over.
As the players moved toward their benches following a quick paddle tap, Patriquin reportedly made a comment that triggered an immediate reaction from Waters. Several members of the Shock organization tried to de-escalate the confrontation, but tensions flared quickly.
According to multiple sources on-site — including Zane Navratil via Twitter/X — Patriquin allegedly said something vulgar to Waters leading to intervention from both teams' staff and MLP officials.
Below is a short footage of what transpired —
The intensity on court only escalated from there.
During the second mixed doubles match, Navratil took a full swing and struck Tardio off a bounce with maximum force, much to the delight of the 5s bench. While the move sent a clear message, it failed to shift momentum; Bright and Tardio handled Navratil and Dizon with composure, clinching the overall victory for St. Louis in regulation.
Following the match, Patriquin addressed the altercation with Waters.
“Some words were said—words that shouldn’t have been said. It’s the heat of the moment,” he admitted. “I’m sorry, and I shouldn’t have done it.”
The win marked the Shock’s second triumph of the day after an earlier victory over the Brooklyn Pickleball Team on Sunday afternoon.
This highly charged matchup carried additional intrigue due to the recent shakeups on the PPA Tour, where Anna Bright and Anna Leigh Waters announced their decision to partner together for the rest of 2025, parting ways with Rachel Rohrabacher and Catherine Parenteau respectively.
Bright faced both her former partner Rohrabacher and her new partner Waters over the course of the day—and walked away victorious in both encounters.
“All the nerves, anxiety, and excitement kind of hit me all at once,” Bright reflected. “I had a lot of trouble sleeping last night, and today there were definitely some matches with a lot of storylines. You have to keep things in perspective and think about the bigger picture—it’s only the start of the season.”
Looking ahead, St. Louis will aim to extend their unbeaten run at MLP Columbus next week, while New Jersey will next take the court at MLP Austin, scheduled for May 23-26.
Whenever these two teams cross paths again, it promises to be more than just a battle for standings points—it’ll be personal.