Longoria & Salas repeat as UnitedHealthcare US Open LPRT Doubles Champions

Paola Longoria and Samantha Salas successfully defended their Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) US Open Women's Doubles title Saturday by defeating Frédérique Lambert and Veronica Sotomayor, 15-10, 15-0, at the 2016 United Healthcare US Open in Minneapolis.

Game one was close, as they were tied at 4, 5, 6, and 7, but Longoria and Salas then pulled ahead to lead 13-7. However, after a timeout at that point, Lambert and Sotomayor got the serve back, and scored two points to make it 13-9. But two Longoria winners ended that run, and a third Longoria winner, a backhand down the line shot, put them on game point at 14-9.

Sotomayor prevented the win at that point. But on their serve Lambert and Sotomayor could only score one before giving the serve back to Longoria and Salas at 14-10. Curiously, Longoria and Salas called a timeout, which seemed unnecessary, and it was unhelpful, as Lambert and then Sotomayor hit winning serve returns to get back in the service box.

Yet they couldn't score themselves. Lambert was forced into skipping a forehand shot, and then she was called for an avoidable. On their fourth game point, Longoria and Salas won game one, as Sotomayor skipped a backhand serve return.

Although they lost game one, Lambert's and Sotomayor's performance showed that they could possibly get it to a tie-breaker. But their performance in game two was wanting, as Salas took over. She served first to open game two, and they scored three points, including a service winner for the second point.

A Sotomayor backhand caused a hideout, but two Salas winners - a forehand splat shot, and a forehand cross court - denied Lambert and Sotomayor from scoring, and they didn't get another opportunity to serve, as Salas served twelve straight times, producing 12 points and a 15-0 win.

In that point streak, Salas hit three winners and Lambert was called for two avoidables, including one that yielded match point.

The next LPRT event is the Boston Open October 28-30 in Boston, Massachusetts followed by The Paola Longoria Invitational in Monterrey, Mexico, November 4-6.

2016 UnitedHealthcare US Open
Minneapolis, Minnesota - October 5-9, 2016

LPRT Doubles Final - Saturday (seeds)

(1) Paola Longoria & Samantha Salas d. (3) Frédérique Lambert & Veronica Sotomayor, 15-10, 15-0

Follow the bouncing ball….