2020 USA Racquetball National Doubles Championships - Preview

The USA Racquetball National Doubles Championships begin Thursday at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. Rocky Carson and Charlie Pratt are the defending Men’s Doubles Champions, so they are seeded #1 in the Men’s Team Qualifying Draw with last year’s runners up Jake Bredenbeck and Jose Diaz as the #2 seeds.

But there are two new teams of note in the Men’s draw. Alejandro Landa is playing in his first US Team Qualifying event, and he’s teamed up with Sudsy Monchik. They are seeded 5th. The other team of interest is the return of former Champions Jansen Allen and Tony Carson, who won the title in 2013. Allen also won it with Jose Rojas in 2015. Allen and Carson are seeded 4th, so they will play Landa and Monchik in the quarterfinals, which will be the first match for both teams.

Six teams are in the Women’s Team Qualifying division, but the title will likely go to one of the top three seeds. Either Erika Manilla and Aimee Ruiz, who are the top seeds, or 2nd seeds Kelani Bailey Lawrence and Sheryl Lotts or 3rd seeds Hollie Scott and Lexi York will take home the title.

Last year Ruiz and Janel Tisinger-Ledkins won the title by defeating Michelle De La Rosa and Danielle Maddux in the final. But then Tisinger-Ledkins tested positive for a banned substance at last year’s championships, which meant she and Ruiz vacated their title, and Tisinger-Ledkins was banned for 16 months. Thus, she’s still ineligible to compete in Tempe this week.

The USA National Doubles Champions will earn the right to represent their country at the 2020 International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships in San Luis Potosi, Mexico in August. The US doubles teams at the last World Championships in 2018 were Rocky Carson and Sudsy Monchik on the men’s side and Sheryl Lotts and Rhonda Rajsich on the women’s side.

Rajsich isn’t in the doubles draw this year, so it seems that she’s relying on her singles performances to get a spot on the team for Worlds.

Singles Play

USA Racquetball also has a singles division for the men and women who are looking to represent the USA at Worlds in August. In the Men’s draw, Rocky Carson is the top seed with Alejandro Landa 2nd, Jake Bredenbeck 3rd and David Horn 4th. Also of note, Charlie Pratt is seeded 5th and Adam Manilla 7th.

In the Women’s draw, Rhonda Rajsich is seeded 1st, with Kelani Bailey Lawrence 2nd, Hollie Scott 3rd, Erika Manilla 4th, Sheryl Lotts 5th and Lexi York 6th. The veteran Rajsich is still likely the player to beat, even though she’s had some inconsistent performances over the last year. But she was a semifinalist at the most recent Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) event in Greenville, South Carolina, so while one of the young up and coming players could knock off the veteran, it will take a good performance to do so.

You can watch some of the action live from Tempe via the USA Racquetball website. The Men’s and Women’s Doubles finals will be Saturday afternoon with the Singles finals on Sunday. Note the match times below are Pacific time.

2020 USA Racquetball National Doubles Championships
February 5-9, 2020 - Tempe, Arizona
US National Team Divisions

Men's Doubles

Round of 16 - Thursday

1) Rocky Carson & Charlie Pratt - BYE
8) Thomas Gerhardt & Brent Walters v. 9) Robert Collins & Mauricio Zelada - 12:25 PM

5) Alejandro Landa & Sudsy Monchik - BYE
4) Jansen Allen & Tony Carson - BYE

3) Adam Manilla & Nicholas Riffel - BYE
6) Erik Garcia & David Horn v. 11) Ben Baron & Preston Tribble - 10:15 AM

7) Maurice Miller & Troy Warigon v. 10) Justus Benson & Sam Bredenbeck - 10:15 AM
2) Jake Bredenbeck & Jose Diaz - BYE

Quarterfinals - Thursday

1) Rocky Carson & Charlie Pratt v. 8) Thomas Gerhardt & Brent Walters or 9) Robert Collins & Mauricio Zelada - 6:55 PM
4) Jansen Allen & Tony Carson v. 5) Alejandro Landa & Sudsy Monchik - 4:45 PM

3) Adam Manilla & Nicholas Riffel v. 6) Erik Garcia & David Horn or 11) Ben Baron & Preston Tribble - 2:35 PM
2) Jake Bredenbeck & Jose Diaz v. 7) Maurice Miller & Troy Warigon or 10) Justus Benson & Sam Bredenbeck - 2:35 PM

Women's Doubles

Quarterfinals - Thursday

1) Erika Manilla & Aimee Ruiz - BYE
4) Jazmin Trevino & Erin Slutzky v. 5) Cassi Lee & Fran Transfiguracion - 10:15 AM

3) Hollie Scott & Lexi York v. 6) Jessica Chen & Graci Wargo — 11:20 AM
2) Kelani Bailey Lawrence & Sheryl Lotts - BYE

Men’s Singles

Round of 32 - Thursday

16) Ben Baron v. 17) Jacob Kingsford - 4:45 PM

Men’s Singles

Round of 16 - Thursday

1) Rocky Carson v. 16) Ben Baron or 17) Jacob Kingsford - 9:05 PM
8) Maurice Miller v. 9) Erik Garcia - 5:50 PM

5) Charlie Pratt v. 12) Mauricio Zelada - 3:40 PM
4) David Horn v. 13) Troy Warigon - 4:45 PM

3) Jake Bredenbeck v. 14) Nicholas Riffel - 6:55 PM
6) Thomas Carter v. 11) Robert Collins - 9:10 AM

7) Adam Manilla v. 10) Sam Bredenbeck - 6:55 PM
2) Alejandro Landa v. 15) Justus Benson - 8 PM

Women's Singles

Round of 16 - Thursday

1) Rhonda Rajsich - BYE
8) Jessica Chen v. 9) Graci Wargo - 1:30 PM

5) Sheryl Lotts v. 12) Estafania Perez - 12:25 PM
4) Erika Manilla v. 13) Fran Transfiguracion - 1:30 PM

3) Hollie Scott - BYE
6) Lexi York v. Erin Slutzky - 8 PM

7) Cassi Lee v. 10) Jazmin Trevino - 9:05 PM
2) Kelani Bailey Lawrence - BYE

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