25th Annual NES Associates LPRT Christmas Classic Quarterfinals

There were some close games and one upset in the quarterfinals of the Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) 25th Annual NES Associates LPRT Christmas Classic in Laurel, Maryland. LPRT #1 Paola Longoria defeated 8th seed Carla Muñoz, 11-2, 11-1, 12-10, to advance to the semi-finals, where she’ll face a familiar opponent in Samatha Salas, who as the 5th seed upset 4th seed Alexandra Herrera, 11-1, 11-6, 11-3.

On the bottom of the draw, 2nd seed Frédérique Lambert needed four games to get past 10th seed Veronica Sotomayor, 11-3, 10-12, 11-9, 11-7. Lambert plays 3rd seed Jessica Parrilla in the semi-finals, as Parrilla beat Cristina Amaya, 11-7, 12-10, 11-4.

After dropping the first game against Lambert, Sotomayor led early in game two. Lambert did tie it at 8-8, but Sotomayor was able to finish off the game, 12-10. The story was similar in game three, as Sotomayor went out to a 6-1 lead.

Again Lambert caught up at 8-8, and this time she pushed on to win it, 11-9, with her second game point. Lambert went on to close it out in four games by taking the fourth 11-7.

In Longoria and Muñoz’s match, Longoria cruised through the first two games, but then in game three, Muñoz took the early advantage with leads of 3-0 and 7-2. Muñoz hit several jam serves to the left side that initially forced Longoria to turn around to play the ball as it came off the back wall and towards the right side wall.

Longoria tied the game at 8-8, and then went up 9-8. However, it was Muñoz who got to 10 first, leading 10-9. A Longoria backhand denied Muñoz that game point, and Longoria scored on the next three rallies to win 12-10, ending the match with a backhand cross court shot.

The semi-finals will begin at 4 and 5 PM Saturday and can be viewed via the LPRT LiveStream channel. The doubles semis will follow the singles semis. The singles final will be 11 AM Sunday with the doubles final to follow.

25th Annual NES Associates LPRT Christmas Classic, December 9-11, 2016
Laurel, Maryland

Quarterfinals

1) Paola Longoria d. 8) Carla Muñoz, 11-2, 11-1, 12-10
5) Samantha Salas d. 4) Alexandra Herrera, 11-1, 11-6, 11-3

3) Jessica Parrilla d. 6) Cristina Amaya, 11-7, 12-10, 11-4
2) Frédérique Lambert d. 10) Veronica Sotomayor, 11-3, 10-12, 11-9, 11-7

Semi-finals - Saturday

1) Paola Longoria v. 5) Samantha Salas - 5 PM
2) Frédérique Lambert v. 3) Jessica Parrilla - 4 PM

Doubles - Semi-finals - Saturday

1) Paola Longoria & Samantha Salas v. 4) Cristina Amaya & Veronica Sotomayor - 6 PM
2) Frédérique Lambert & Jessica Parrilla v. 3) Alexandra Herrera & Carla Muñoz - 7 PM

Follow the bouncing ball….