Paola Longoria and Alexandra Herrera will meet Sunday in the final of the Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) Torneo Milenio in Tijuana, Mexico after they won their respective semi-final matches Saturday night. LPRT #1 Longoria fended off former #1 Rhonda Rajsich in three straight games, 12-10, 11-7, 11-5, while 3rd seed Herrera outlasted 2nd seed Jessica Parrilla in a marathon match, 12-10, 11-3, 9-11, 10-12, 13-11.
A loss in three straight games doesn’t do justice to Rajsich’s performance, as she was close in both games one and two. Indeed, Rajsich led late in game one, and had three game points at 10-8. But she couldn’t convert any of them, twice skipping shots for unforced errors. After the third error, Longoria served it out with four points on consecutive rallies with the game ending as Rajsich skipped shot after Longoria had hit a ceiling ball deep into the back left corner.
In game two, Longoria took a 7-0 lead, and it looked like she was just going to roll through Rajsich. But Rajsich responded with seven points of her own to tie it 7-7. She got her sixth point during a rally in which she dove on three straight shots with the third diving get going for a winner.
But after getting a sideout at 7-7, Longoria took a timeout, and when play resumed she scored four unanswered points to get the second game and go up 2-0 in the match.
In game three, they were again close early, tied at 3-3. But Longoria got five straight points to lead 8-3, and didn’t let Rajsich back in the game from there, winning it 11-5 with a drive serve ace to the right side.
3rd seed Herrera upset 2nd seed Parrilla in a match that approached two hours in duration, winning 12-10, 11-3, 9-11, 10-12, 13-11. Herrera won the first two games with cleaner shots than Parrilla, who was frustrated at her play, and seemed to let her emotions get the better of her. But Parrilla managed to put it together in the last three games and almost had a successful come back to win it in the breaker before Herrera ended it.
Parrilla had the advantage in game one, as she was up 8-3, but Herrera battled back and tied the game at 9-9. Parrilla got the first game point at 10-9, but forehand return got Herrera back in the service box, and she hit three winners to score on consecutive rallies to steal the first game with the winning shot a backhand down the line pass.
Game two was all Herrera, as the young left-hander took a 5-0 lead, and never looked back. Game three was close all the way with the largest lead coming at the start, when Parrilla was up 3-0. But Herrera tied it at 3-3, and from there the players were never separated by more than two points. Parrilla won it with a great forehand pinch shot from deep in the back right corner.
Parrilla again took a 3-0 lead in game four, but Herrera not only tied it at 3-3, she went ahead 7-3. Herrera also led 9-5. Parrilla called a timeout at that point, and staged a comeback, as she got to 9-9. The last part of game four was hard fought, as they played 22 rallies to score 5 points as they went from 9-8 for Herrera to 12-10 for Parrilla.
In game five, Herrera took the early advantage, as she was up 6-1. Parrilla took a timeout, and came back to take the lead at 7-6, despite a Herrera timeout at 6-4. But Parrilla stalled at 7, and Herrera scored four straight points to set up match point at 10-7. Herrera’s first serve was short, and on her second serve, Parrilla moved to cut off Herrera’s Z serve to the left side to take it a winner with her forehand.
Parrilla cut the deficit to 10-9, getting her 9th point with a drive serve ace to the right side. Herrera called a timeout, but when play resumed Parrilla tied the game at 10-10 with a forehand winner. A Parrilla backhand winner got her a match point at 11-10. But Herrera responded by winning the next rally with a forehand to get the serve back.
From there, Herrera served it out, hitting winners on three straight rallies including a forehand that ended a long rally in which Parrilla twice kept the ball in play with balls hit into the back wall. The win puts Herrera into her 2nd LPRT final on Sunday.
In doubles, 4th seeds Herrera and Natalia Mendez upset top seeds Longoria and Nancy Enriquez, 15-11, 15-9, in the semi-finals Saturday. They’ll face 2nd seeds Carla Muñoz and Jessica Parrilla in Sunday’s final, as Muñoz and Parrilla beat 6th seeds Montserrat Perez and Erin Rivera, 15-5, 15-14.
You can watch the singles final at noon Sunday live via the LPRT LiveStream channel or the LPRT YouTube channel. The doubles final will follow the singles final.
2017 LPRT Torneo Milenio, August 23-27, 2017
Tijuana, Mexico
Semi-finals - Saturday
1) Paola Longoria d. 4) Rhonda Rajsich, 12-10, 11-7, 11-5
3) Alexandra Herrera d. 2) Jessica Parrilla, 12-10, 11-3, 9-11, 10-12, 13-11
Final - Sunday
1) Paola Longoria v. 3) Alexandra Herrera - Noon
Doubles - Semi-finals - Saturday
4) Alexandra Herrera & Natalia Mendez d. 1) Paola Longoria & Nancy Enriquez, 15-11, 15-9
2) Carla Muñoz & Jessica Parrilla d. 6) Montserrat Perez & Erin Rivera, 15-5, 15-14
Doubles - Final - Sunday
2) Carla Muñoz & Jessica Parrilla v. 4) Alexandra Herrera & Natalia Mendez - 1 PM
Follow the bouncing ball….
Saturday, August 26, 2017
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