Top 4 are the final 4 at 2018 LPRT Turkey Shoot Open

The final four at the Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) 2018 Turkey Shoot Open in Lombard, Illinois are the top four seeds, led by LPRT #1 Paola Longoria, who beat 9th seed Adriana Riveros, 11-3, 11-2, 11-4, in the quarterfinals. Longoria will play 4th seed Maria Jose Vargas, who was also a straight game winner against 5th seed Rhonda Rajsich, 12-10, 11-3, 11-1.

But the other two seeds had to comeback to win their quarterfinal matches, as each were a game away from being out of the tournament. Samantha Salas, the 2nd seed, was actually outscored by 7th seed Cristina Amaya, in part because Amaya blanked her in game three of their match to go up 2-1 in games.

Amaya was three points away from the win in game four, when they were tied at 8-8. But Salas got a sideout via an avoidable hinder call to get the serve back, and scored three points on the next three rallies to force the tie-breaker.

The breaker was a long game, which was close all the way. There were 10 rallies at 4-4, for example. Amaya broke the tie, and went up two to lead 6-4. But Salas called a timeout at that point, and a few sideouts followed.

The Salas scored three points with ace drive serves: two to the left and one to the right, which made the score 7-6. She maintained the lead to the end, although it took 20 rallies to get the last four points. Amaya fought off three match points, but could only score one point of her own, so eventually Salas won the game, 11-7, with a low forehand wide angle shot.

Fourth seed Alexandra Herrera lost two close games in her match with 6th seed Natalia Mendez, but then won three games by a comfortable margin to win the match in five games, 9-11, 10-12, 11-3, 11-3, 11-4.

Check out the semi-finals live via the LPRT LiveStream channel, the LPRT Facebook page or the LPRT YouTube channel. The semis will be at 4:30 and 5:30 PM. The singles final will be noon Sunday with the doubles final to follow at 1 PM. All times central.

2018 LPRT Turkey Shoot, November 16-18, 2018
Lombard, Illinois

Quarterfinals - Saturday

1) Paola Longoria d. 9) Adriana Riveros, 11-3, 11-2, 11-4
4) Maria Jose Vargas d. 5) Rhonda Rajsich, 12-10, 11-3, 11-1

3) Alexandra Herrera d. 6) Natalia Mendez, 9-11, 10-12, 11-3, 11-3, 11-4
2) Samantha Salas d. 7) Cristina Amaya, 11-3, 6-11, 0-11, 11-8, 11-7

Semi-finals - Saturday

1) Paola Longoria v. 4) Maria Jose Vargas - 5:30 PM
2) Samantha Salas v. 3) Alexandra Herrera - 4:30 PM

Doubles - Semi-finals - Saturday

1) Paola Longoria & Samantha Salas v. 5) Sheryl Lotts & Rhonda Rajsich - 9:30 PM
2) Alexandra Herrera & Carla Muñoz v. 3) Natalia Mendez & Maria Jose Vargas - 8:30 PM

Follow the bouncing ball….