Longoria survives a scare at 2021 LPRT Sweet Caroline Open

Paola Longoria, the #1 player on the Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) survived a scare against 16th seed Kelani Lawrence in the Round of 16 at the Sweet Caroline Open in Greenville, South Carolina Friday night, as she won 15-5, 15-13, but was down big in game two. Longoria will play 8th seed Valeria Centellas in the quarterfinals Saturday, as Centellas beat Carla Muñoz, 15-10, 15-9, in the 16s Friday.

Longoria rarely finds herself behind in a game, but she was 10 points behind Lawrence in game two, when Lawrence led 12-2. Longoria took time outs at 5-2 and 9-2, but Lawrence kept piling up the points. She did so with a variety of serves and some solid winners. Longoria made some uncharacteristic errors also, but that wasn’t main story. Lawrence’s play was.

Longoria turned the match around by switching to a half lob serve to Lawrence’s backhand, and Lawrence’s returns were not good enough. Initially, she took some of those serves early, including short hopping the ball. But that wasn’t very effective, and then Lawrence hit some around the wall returns, which was a passive strategy that helped Longoria get back on track by providing her set ups for winners.

With momentum all on Longoria’s side, Lawrence did manage to get the serve back at 12-11, and scored a point with a backhand winner to make it 13-11. That suggested she might force a tie-breaker, but on the next rally Longoria hit a winner of her own, and then tied the game 13-13.

Lawrence called a timeout, but to no avail, as she didn’t serve again. Longoria closed it out on the next two rallies with the match winning point coming after a mishit by Lawrence that skipped.

Both upsets in the 16s came in the same bracket, as the 4th and 5th seeds went out. Montserrat Mejia, the 13th seed, defeated 4th seed Angelica Barrios, 15-12, 15-14, and 12th seed Nancy Enriquez beat 5th seed Rhonda Rajsich, 15-7, 15-6. Thus, Enriquez and Mejia will play each other in the quarters and one will be a semi-finalist.

It was chalk on the other side of the draw with the higher seeds winning all the matches. Second seed Alexandra Herrera beat 18th seed Sheryl Lotts, 15-11, 15-9, and will play 7th seed Jessica Parrilla in the quarters, as Parrilla was a winner over 10th seed Cristina Amaya, 9-15, 15-8, 11-8. Also, 3rd seed Samantha Salas wiil take on 6th seed Natalia Mendez, as Salas defeated 19th seed Brenda Laime, 15-14, 15-9, and Mendez was a winner over 11th seed Gabriela Martinez, 15-7, 15-10.

Mendez was using a backhand drive serve for much of the match against Martinez, and standing close to the left side drive serve line. It seemed like she was breaking the plane indicated by that line, which would be an automatic screen serve, but it was never called in the match, and Martinez didn’t contest it.

You can watch the LPRT Sweet Caroline Open live via the LPRT YouTube channel or the LPRT website (click “LPRT Live” at the top of the page). The singles quarterfinals will be at 11 AM and noon Saturday with the doubles quarters at 1 and 2 PM. The singles semi-finals are Saturday evening at 6 and 7 PM and the doubles semis at 8 and 9 PM. The singles final will be 1 PM Sunday with the doubles final to follow at 2 PM. All times eastern. 

2021 LPRT Sweet Caroline Open, April 30-May 2, 2021 

Greenville, South Carolina 

Round of 16 - Friday 

1) Paola Longoria d. 16) Kalani Lawrence, 15-5, 15-13
8) Valeria Centellas d. 9) Carla Muñoz, 15-10, 15-9

12) Nancy Enriquez d. 5) Rhonda Rajsich, 15-7, 15-6
13) Montserrat Mejia d. 4) Angelica Barrios, 15-12, 15-14

3) Samantha Salas d. 19) Brenda Laime, 15-14, 15-9
6) Natalia Mendez d. 11) Gabriela Martinez, 15-7, 15-10

7) Jessica Parrilla d. 10) Cristina Amaya, 9-15, 15-8, 11-8
2) Alexandra Herrera d. 18) Sheryl Lotts, 15-11, 15-9

Quarterfinals - Saturday 

1) Paola Longoria v. 8) Valeria Centellas - Noon
12) Nancy Enriquez v. 13) Montserrat Mejia - Noon

3) Samantha Salas v. 6) Natalia Mendez - 11 AM
2) Alexandra Herrera v. 7) Jessica Parrilla - 11 AM

Doubles - Quarterfinals - Saturday 

1) Paola Longoria & Samantha Salas v. 9) Sheryl Lotts & Rhonda Rajsich - 2 PM
4) Gabriela Martinez & Maria Renee Rodriguez v. 5) Nancy Enriquez & Carla Muñoz - 2 PM

3) Alexandra Herrera & Montserrat Mejia v. 6) Cristina Amaya & Adriana Riveros - 1 PM
2) Valeria Centellas & Natalia Mendez v. 10) Kelani Lawrence & Hollie Scott - 1 PM

 Follow the bouncing ball….

2021 LPRT Sweet Caroline Open - Early Rounds

The Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour’s (LPRT’s) Sweet Caroline Open is underway in Greenville, South Carolina. This one snuck up on us, so we’re a little late to the party, and already there have been some results.

The notable first round result was Linda Tyler’s win over Jenny Daza, 15-12, 3-15, 11-10. Daza is a veteran player, who’s been on the podium for Bolivia, so that’s a great win for Tyler. There were some upsets in Round of 32 also, including Brenda Laime’s win over Adriana Riveros, 15-11, 15-11, and Sheryl Lotts defeat of Maria Renee Rodriguez, 12-15, 15-14, 11-8.

LPRT #1 Paola Longoria won her first match over Tyler, 15-2, 15-8, in the 32s, and she’ll play Kelani Lawrence in the Round of 16 tonight. Lawrence beat Hollie Scott, 15-11, 15-7, in the 32s.

Thirty five players are competing in Greenville, which is a good turnout. But it’s not just the quantity of player that’s impressive, it’s the quality. Eighteen of the top 20 players are in the draw. After Longoria, Alexandra Herrera is the 2nd seed with Samantha Salas 3rd and Angelica Barrios 4th. LPRT #2 Maria Jose Vargas is absent, as she recently had her second child.

They are also playing doubles in Greenville. Longoria and Samantha Salas are the top seeds, and they have a first round bye as there are 15 teams in the doubles draw. We thought the highlight match of the first round would be 4th seeds Gabriela Martinez and Rodriguez versus Barrilos and Daza, who were seeded 13th, but Martinez and Rodriguez made short work of the match, winning 15-2, 15-6. They’ll take on Nancy Enriquez and Carla Muñoz in the quarterfinals Saturday, as Enriquez and Muñoz held on against Ana Laura Flores and Micaela Meneses, winning 15-6, 13-15, 11-6.

One upset in doubles, as 10th seeds Kelani Lawrence and Hollie Scott came back from a game down to defeat 7th seeds Jessica Parrilla and Montserrat Perez, 14-15, 15-11, 11-3. Lawrence and Scott will play 2nd seeds Valeria Centellas and Natalia Mendez in the quarters after Centellas and Mendez beat Susana Acosta and Linda Tyler in the Round of 16, 15-5, 15-7.

You can watch the LPRT Sweet Caroline Open live via the LPRT YouTube channel or the LPRT website (click “LPRT Live” at the top of the page). The Round of 16 begins at 6 PM Friday, with the quarterfinals at 11 AM and noon Saturday. beginning Friday at 9 AM. Doubles begins at 3 PM Friday with the Round of 16 followed by the quarterfinals at 1 and 2 PM Saturday afternoon. The singles semi-finals are Saturday afternoon at 6 and 7 PM and the doubles semis at 8 and 9 PM. The singles final will be 1 PM Sunday with the doubles final to follow at 2 PM. All times eastern. 

2021 LPRT Sweet Caroline Open, April 30-May 2, 2021 

Greenville, South Carolina 

Round of 64 - Friday 

33) Linda Tyler d. 32) Jenny Daza, 15-12, 3-15, 11-10
35) Montserrat Perez d. 30) Naomi Ros, 11-15, 15-8, 11-0
31) Erika Manilla d. 34) Maricruz Ortiz, forfeit  

Round of 32 - Friday 

1) Paola Longoria d. 33) Linda Tyler, 15-2, 15-8
16) Kalani Lawrence d. 17) Hollie Scott, 15-11, 15-7

9) Carla Muñoz d. 24) Graci Wargo, 15-4, 15-4
8) Valeria Centellas d. 25) Lucia Gonzalez, 15-11, 15-9

5) Rhonda Rajsich d. 28) Shane Diaz, 15-8, 15-7
12) Nancy Enriquez d. 21) Ana Laura Flores, 15-4, 15-3

13) Montserrat Mejia d. 20) Susana Acosta, 15-3, 15-5
4) Angelica Barrios d. 29) Daniela Rico, 15-14, 12-15, 11-3

3) Samantha Salas d. 35) Montserrat Perez, 15-4, 15-11
19) Brenda Laime d. 14) Adriana Riveros, 15-11, 15-11

11) Gabriela Martinez d. 22) Micaela Meneses, 15-4, 15-4
6) Natalia Mendez v. 27) Erin Slutzky, 15-4, 15-7

7) Jessica Parrilla d. 26) Jessica Chen, 15-2, 15-10
10) Cristina Amaya d. 23) Adrienne Haynes, 15-4, 15-3

18) Sheryl Lotts d. 15) Maria Renee Rodriguez, 12-15, 15-14, 11-8
2) Alexandra Herrera d. 31) Erika Manilla, 15-2, 15-8  

Round of 16 - Friday 

1) Paola Longoria v. 16) Kalani Lawrence - 8 PM
8) Valeria Centellas v. 9) Carla Muñoz - 8 PM

5) Rhonda Rajsich v. 12) Nancy Enriquez - 6 PM
4) Angelica Barrios v. 13) Montserrat Mejia - 6 PM

3) Samantha Salas v. 19) Brenda Laime
6) Natalia Mendez v. 11) Gabriela Martinez - 7 PM

7) Jessica Parrilla v. 10) Cristina Amaya - 7 PM
2) Alexandra Herrera v. 18) Sheryl Lotts - 7 PM  

Doubles - Round of 16 - Friday 

1) Paola Longoria & Samantha Salas - BYE 
9) Sheryl Lotts & Rhonda Rajsich d. 8) Brenda Laime & Lucia Gonzalez, 15-"94" [sic], 14-15, 11-10

5) Nancy Enriquez & Carla Muñoz d. 12) Ana Laura Flores & Micaela Meneses, 15-6, 13-15, 11-6
4) Gabriela Martinez & Maria Renee Rodriguez d. 13) Angelica Barrios & Jenny Daza, 15-2, 15-6 

3) Alexandra Herrera & Montserrat Mejia d. 14) Shane Diaz & Naomi Ros, 15-4, 15-13  
6) Cristina Amaya & Adriana Riveros d. 11) Jessica Chen & Megan Shelton, 15-7, 15-7 

10) Kelani Lawrence & Hollie Scott d. 7) Jessica Parrilla & Montserrat Perez, 14-15, 15-11, 11-3 
2) Valeria Centellas & Natalia Mendez d. 15) Susana Acosta & Linda Tyler, 15-5, 15-7 

Doubles - Quarterfinals - Saturday 

1) Paola Longoria & Samantha Salas v. 9) Sheryl Lotts & Rhonda Rajsich - 2 PM
4) Gabriela Martinez & Maria Renee Rodriguez v. 5) Nancy Enriquez & Carla Muñoz - 2 PM

3) Alexandra Herrera & Montserrat Mejia v. 6) Cristina Amaya & Adriana Riveros - 1 PM
2) Valeria Centellas & Natalia Mendez v. 10) Kelani Lawrence & Hollie Scott - 1 PM

 Follow the bouncing ball….