2019 LPRT Bolivia American Iris Open - Round of 16

Angelica Barrios - seeded 12th - knocked off the 5th seed Nancy Enriquez in convincing fashion in the Round of 16 at the 2019 Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) Bolivia American Iris Open in Cochabamba, Bolivia, winning 11-5, 11-3, 11-6. The win puts Barrios into the quarterfinals against veteran Rhonda Rajsich, who also had an impressive win in the 16s over Jenny Daza, 11-9, 11-2, 11-1.

Young Micaela Meneses almost caused the upset of the tournament, as she won game one against top seed Samantha Salas. The favourite came back to win the next three games, and take the match 12-14, 11-2, 11-7, 11-2. Salas will play 9th seed Yazmine Sabja in the quarterfinals, as Sabja was an upset winner over 8th seed Cristina Amaya, 11-6, 11-8, 11-9.

But the match of the Round of 16 was between 3rd seed Maria Jose Vargas and 14th seed Valeria Centellas, which went the distance, as Vargas came out on top, 12-10, 11-4, 10-12, 9-11, 11-9. Centellas fought off eight match points: 4 in game three, 3 in game four and 1 in game five. Vargas ended it in style, as she hit a drive serve to the left side for an ace.

It seemed the match would be over in three games, as Vargas led 10-7 in game three. But Centellas is a feisty player, and wasn’t going to go quietly. Yet part of what changed that game and almost the match was a non-hinder call, as Vargas signalled for a hinder, only half hitting the shot. But the referee made no call, so the rally continued for a few more shots before Centellas won it. Vargas protested but the play stood, and she seemed put out by it.

Centellas continued to push forward, and managed to eke out game three, Then she jumped out to a lead in game four. However, Vargas seemed to right ship, as she came back and got to 10 first with a 10-9 lead. But after failing to convert three more match points, Vargas called a time out when she didn’t have any timeouts left. The result was a technical, which made the score 9-9.

Centellas scored the next point to make it 10-9, and it was Vargas’s turn to fight off game points. She did it twice before Centellas was able to end it, and force a fifth game tie-breaker.

In game five, Vargas had control early, as she took a 6-0 lead. But once again Centellas didn’t roll over, as she came back to tie the score at 9-9. Vargas took a timeout at that point, and did have one. When play resumed, Vargas got the serve back, and scored a point to make the score 10-9. On the next rally, Centellas made a get that Vargas thought bounced twice before her opponent got to it, so she stopped playing. However, referee didn’t call two bounces, so Centellas got the side out. It was shades of game three all over again.

But when Centellas hit a lob serve to the right side, Vargas stepped up and hit a winning forehand cross court pass to regain the serve. Then on her 8th match point, Vargas hit a drive serve to the left side that Centellas couldn’t get a racquet on, so Vargas won the match on an ace serve.

There was another tie-breaker with a similar score line, although the result was an upset, as 10th seed Masiel Rivera held on to defeat 7th seed Adriana Riveros, 11-9, 11-8, 9-11, 4-11, 11-9. Rivera will play 2nd seed Alexandra Herrera in the quarters, as Herrera beat 18th seed Romina Rivero, 11-2, 11-7, 11-7.

In doubles, the top seeds Rajsich and Salas faced the reigning International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Champion Women’s Doubles team in Centellas and Sabja, and managed to survive the encounter, winning 15-9, 2-15, 11-8. Rajsich and Salas had a 8-0 lead in the tie-breaker, and it almost wasn’t enough, as Centellas and Sabja got within two at 10-8. The Bolivians held off five match points by the top seeds, three of which were skips by Rajsich, who had set ups on two of those chances.

The end was anticlimatic. Sabja had just hit a forehand winner to fend off another match point on the previous rally, when Salas hit a forehand cross court shot that came off the left wall and Sabja swung at it with her backhand and got nothing but air. She quickly turned to try to hit it somehow to keep the rally going but to no avail.

And with that the match was over, and the World Champs lost.

Rajsich and Salas will play 5th seeds Brenda Laime and Masiel Rivera, who were upset winners over 4th seeds Cristina Amaya and Adriana Riveros, 15-12, 15-9. It was not a good day for either Amaya or Riveros, as both lost in singles as well.

The Round of 16 continues Thursday with the doubles quarterfinals Thursday night. On Friday, the singles quarterfinals will begin at noon with the semi-finals Saturday at 11 AM and 1 PM. The singles final will be Sunday at 1 PM with the doubles final scheduled for 6 PM Saturday. You can watch the action live via the LPRT website, or the LPRT YouTube channel or its LiveStream channel.

2019 LPRT Open Bolivia American Iris
Cochabamba, Bolivia - March 27-31, 2019

LPRT Singles - Round of 16 - Thursday

1 Samantha Salas d. 16 Micaela Meneses, 12-14, 11-2, 11-7, 11-2
9 Yazmine Sabja d. 8 Cristina Amaya, 11-6, 11-8, 11-9

12 Angelica Barrios d. 5 Nancy Enriquez, 11-5, 11-3, 11-6
4 Rhonda Rajsich d. 13 Jenny Daza, 11-9, 11-3, 11-0

3 Maria Jose Vargas d. 14 Valeria Centellas, 12-10, 11-4, 10-12, 9-11, 11-9
6 Natalia Mendez v. 11 Brenda Laime, 11-9, 11-2, 11-1

10 Masiel Rivera d. 7 Adriana Riveros, 11-9, 11-8, 9-11, 4-11, 11-9
2 Alexandra Herrera d. 18 Romina Rivero, 11-2, 11-7, 11-7

LPRT Singles - Quarterfinals - Friday

1 Samantha Salas v. 9 Yazmine Sabja - 3 PM
4 Rhonda Rajsich v. 12 Angelica Barrios - Noon

3 Maria Jose Vargas v. 6 Natalia Mendez - 1 PM
2 Alexandra Herrera v. 10 Masiel Rivera - 2 PM

LPRT Doubles - Quarterfinals - Thursday

1 Rhonda Rajsich & Samantha Salas d. 8 Valeria Centellas & Yazmine Sabja, 15-9, 3-15, 11-8
5 Brenda Laime & Masiel Rivera d. 4 Cristina Amaya & Adriana Riveros, 15-12, 15-9

3 Natalia Mendez & Maria Jose Vargas d. 6 Angelica Barrios & Jenny Daza, 15-5, 15-9
2 Nancy Enriquez & Alexandra Herrera d. 7 Daniela Molina & Andrea Garcia, 15-8, 15-7

LPRT Doubles - Semi-finals - Friday

1 Rhonda Rajsich & Samantha Salas v. 5 Brenda Laime & Masiel Rivera - 8 PM
2 Nancy Enriquez & Alexandra Herrera v. 3 Natalia Mendez & Maria Jose Vargas - 7 PM

Follow the bouncing ball….