New Jersey 5s sweep Columbus, beat St. Louis for MLP title

New Jersey turned MLP Columbus into a statement weekend, opening with a 4-0 sweep of the hometown Columbus Sliders on Saturday and finishing with an 11-3, 11-8, 11-9 win over the St. Louis Shock in the final to claim the event crown. The 5s left Pickle & Chill with 25 standings points, an undefeated run, and a clear message to the rest of Major League Pickleball: the early-season title picture runs through them.

The sweep of Columbus mattered before the trophy was even on the line. The Sliders had clipped New Jersey in the 2025 MLP Finals and again in the Dallas opener, so the Saturday result was a clean response as much as a pool-play win. It also locked New Jersey into the top spot in Pool A after both teams had finished Friday at 3-0, setting up the Super Sunday path that rewarded the No. 1 team with the chance to play for the weekend’s top point total.

In the final, the 5s made the lineup decisions and pairings look every bit as important as the star power. Anna Leigh Waters and Jorja Johnson got New Jersey moving in women’s doubles with an 11-3 win, Will Howells and Noe Khlif kept the pressure on with an 11-8 men’s doubles victory, and Waters plus Khlif closed out the title in mixed doubles, 11-9. The result was another sign that New Jersey’s ceiling rises sharply when Howells is healthy and Khlif is giving Waters a reliable mixed option.

That mixed pairing has become one of the key developments of the weekend. Khlif had quickly emerged as a major piece in New Jersey’s structure, and Pickleball.com noted that he had recently replaced Howells as Waters’ partner in MLP mixed matches. In Columbus, that balance showed up on the scoreboard, while Howells looked stronger after the ankle issues that limited him in Dallas. New Jersey owner and general manager Ryan Harwood said the team had absorbed questions after finishing fourth in Dallas and answered them with resilience and professionalism.

The setting matched the stakes. Pickle & Chill drew an unusually intense crowd, with fans arriving as early as 6 a.m. and organizing what was billed as the first tailgate in pickleball history. Connor and Jordan from Love Is Blind were among the spectators, adding to the sense that the league’s biggest events are becoming appointment viewing. St. Louis finished second with 18 points, Columbus took 15, and the standings now head to St. Louis from June 4-7, where New Jersey’s Columbus run will be the standard everyone else is chasing.