Upsets in Round of 16 at 2019 LPRT Turkey Shoot Open

The upsets continued at the Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) 2019 Turkey Shoot Open in Lombard, Illinois, as they played the Round of 16 Friday afternoon. LPRT #3 Samantha Salas was the biggest upset victim, as she lost to 19th seed Jessica Parrilla, 15-3, 15-14, but LPRT #5 Rhonda Rajsich also lost. She was beaten by 21st seed Erin Rivera, 15-13, 7-15, 11-8. Finally a less surprising result, as 10th seed Montserrat Mejia defeated 7th seed Nancy Enriquez. 15-5, 15-7.

In the quarterfinals, Parrilla will play Natalia Mendez, who defeated Adriana Riveros, 15-8, 15-14; Rivera will play Alexandra Herrera, who was a straight game winner over Kelani Bailey Lawrence, 15-4, 15-14; and Mejia faces Maria Jose Vargas.

The top two LPRT players - #1 Paola Longoria and #2 Maria Jose Vargas - were dominant in their matches. Longoria beat Carla Muñoz, 15-4, 15-1, and Vargas dismissed Sheryl Lotts, 15-0, 15-5. After getting blanked in game one, Lotts started well in game two, and was actually tied with Vargas at 5-5. Sadly for her, she didn’t score another point, as Vargas got 10 unanswered points to win the game and match.

In the Parrilla-Salas match, Parrilla was up 8-1 and 10-2 in game two after decisively winning game one, 15-3. But Salas made a hard comeback, and she tied the score at 12-12 with a drive serve ace to the left side (Parrilla’s backhand). They traded points from there with Parrilla always getting ahead first.

Salas gifted Parrilla her 1st match point, as she skipped a backhand shot that was a set up off the back wall that made it 14-13. However, Parrilla wasn’t able to convert that match point as she seemed to be indecisive as to how to play the ball as it went into the back right corner. Salas tied the game 14-14 on the next rally with a controlled backhand shot as Parrilla’s forehand return of serve came into the middle of the court.

It was Parrilla’s turn to fend off game point, and she did so with a backhand cross court shot. It looked like Parrilla’s second match point would go by just as the first did, as Salas had a backhand set up off the back wall. However, she skipped it to hand the game and match to Parrilla. Salas was clearly upset after that rally, throwing her eye guards to the ground.

Look for this weekend’s action live via the LPRT YouTube channel or the LPRT website (click “LPRT Live” at the top of the page). The quarterfinals are Saturday at 11 AM and noon, and the semi-finals at 3:00 and 4:30 PM. The doubles quarterfinals are Friday night at 8 and 9 PM with the semi-finals Saturday night at 8:30 and 9:30 PM. The singles final will be noon Sunday with the doubles final to follow at 1 PM. All times central.

2019 LPRT Turkey Shoot, November 21-24, 2019
Lombard, Illinois

Round of 16 - Friday

1) Paola Longoria d. 16) Carla Muñoz, 15-4, 15-1
8) Cristina Amaya d. 9) Masiel Rivera, 15-6, 14-15, 11-10

21) Erin Rivera d. 5) Rhonda Rajsich, 15-13, 7-15, 11-8
4) Alexandra Herrera d. 20) Kelani Bailey Lawrence, 15-4, 15-14

19) Jessica Parrilla d. 3) Samantha Salas, 15-3, 15-14
6) Natalia Mendez d. 11) Adriana Riveros, 15-8, 15-14

10) Montserrat Mejia d. 7) Nancy Enriquez. 15-5, 15-7
2) Maria Jose Vargas d. 15) Sheryl Lotts, 15-0, 15-5

Quarterfinals - Saturday

1) Paola Longoria v. 8) Cristina Amaya - Noon
4) Alexandra Herrera v. 21) Erin Rivera - Noon

6) Natalia Mendez v. 19) Jessica Parrilla - 11 AM
2) Maria Jose Vargas v. 10) Montserrat Mejia - 11 AM

Doubles - Quarterfinals - Friday

1) Paola Longoria & Samantha Salas d. 8) Valeria Centellas & Carla Muñoz, 15-13, 15-4
4) Nancy Enriquez & Jessica Parrilla d. 5) Kelani Bailey Lawrence & Sheryl Lotts, 8-15, 15-8, 11-5

3) Alexandra Herrera & Montserrat Mejia d. 6) Cristina Amaya & Adriana Riveros, 15-6, 15-2
2) Natalia Mendez & Maria Jose Vargas d. 10) Holly Scott & Lexi York, 15-9, 15-10

Doubles - Semi-finals - Saturday

1) Paola Longoria & Samantha Salas v. 4) Nancy Enriquez & Jessica Parrilla - 9:30 PM
2) Natalia Mendez & Maria Jose Vargas v. 3) Alexandra Herrera & Montserrat Mejia - 8:30 PM

Follow the bouncing ball….