Paola Longoria won singles and doubles Sunday at the Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) Sweet Caroline Open in Greenville, South Carolina. She defeated Nancy Enriquez in the singles final, 11-9, 11-7, 11-0, and teamed up with Alexandra Herrera to beat Frédérique Lambert and Samantha Salas, 15-13, 15-5, in the doubles final.
In the singles final, Enriquez was right in the thick of both the first two games. She led early in game one, 4-1, and even though Longoria went up 9-5, Enriquez dug down and came back to tie it at 9-9. Longoria made it 10-9, but Enriquez fought off two game points before Longoria got the 11th point with a backhand pinch shot.
In game two, Longoria had an early lead, 5-2, but the momentum swung to Enriquez as she went ahead 7-5. However, Longoria held her there, and scored six unanswered points to win 11-7.
Enriquez wouldn’t score again, as Longoria breezed through the third game. Indeed, Enriquez only served once in game three. Longoria hit four aces, as she blanked Enriquez, 11-0, in the blink of an eye.
Enriquez was playing her first pro final, and played well overall. But she hit a few loose shots, and didn’t take advantage of some opportunities. Those are things you can’t do against Longoria, because she will take advantage of her opportunities, and capitalize on any loose shots from her opponent.
It looked like Lambert and Salas could win the doubles final, as they came out hot in game one taking a 8-0 lead. But Herrera and Longoria slowly worked their way back into the game. They cut the deficit in half at 10-5, then got within three at 12-9.
When Herrera and Longoria closed it to two points at 13-11, Lambert and Salas called a timeout. But that didn’t stop Herrera and Longoria, who scored four straight points to win game one, 15-13. The 14th point was an avoidable against Lambert, which she appealed but the call was upheld by the line judges. The game winner came as Lambert couldn’t catch up to a ball that took a big bounce off the back wall into the front court.
They were close in game two, and tied at 3-3. But Herrera and Longoria took over from there, going up 6-3. They held a lead and went on to win 15-5. After trailing 8-0 in game one, Herrera and Longoria outscored Lambert and Salas, 33-10.
The next LPRT event will be the Paola Longoria Invitational in Monterrey, Mexico March 2-4 followed the 2018 LPRT Peachtree Open in Atlanta, Georgia the next weekend, March 9-11. If you missed any of the action from Greenville, you can check it out via the LPRT YouTube channel.
2018 Sweet Caroline Open
Greenville, South Carolina - January 25-28, 2018
LPRT Singles - Final - Sunday
1 Paola Longoria d. 10 Nancy Enriquez, 11-9, 11-7, 11-0
LPRT Doubles - Final - Sunday
1 Alexandra Herrera & Paola Longoria d. 3 Frédérique Lambert & Samantha Salas, 15-13, 15-5
Follow the bouncing ball….
Sunday, January 28, 2018
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