Quarterfinal results from 2022 LPRT Vero Beach Open

After a few upsets in the early rounds of the 2022 Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) Vero Beach Open in Vero Beach, Florida, the quarterfinals were all won by the higher seeds. That included the LPRT’s #1 player - Mexican Paola Longoria - beating 9th seed Brenda Laime, 15-7, 15-0, and LPRT #2 Mexican Alexandra Herrera seeing off Bolivian Jenny Daza, 15-4, 15-2.

Maria Jose Vargas of Argentina, the LPRT’s #3 player, needed three games to defeat Mexican Montserrat Mejia, the 6th seed, 15-11, 14-15, 11-5. She’ll play Herrera in the semi-finals on Saturday.

Longoria will face 12th seed Erika Manilla, who defeated fellow American Kelani Lawrence, the 13th seed, in the quarters, 15-7, 15-13. It looked like Lawrence was going to win game two and force a tie-breaker with Manilla, as she had leads of 7-1 and 13-9. But Manilla dug in, and worked her way back into the game, and managed to finish the match in two straight games. Lawrence would likely have won that second game using rally scoring.

In the doubles semi-finals, top seeds Herrera and Mejia had to come back against 5th seeds Lawrence and Hollie Scott, who won the first game and were ahead midway through the tie-breaker, only to lose it, as Herrera and Mejia prevailed, 9-15, 15-8, 11-8. Lawrence and Scott were up 7-3 in game three, and looked like they were going to cause the upset, but it wasn’t to be as the lefty-righty team of Herrera and Mejia tied it at 7-7 and never trailed after that.

Longoria and Maria Renee Rodriguez will face Herrera and Mejia in the final Saturday, as they defeated 3rd seeds Natalia Mendez and Vargas, 15-11, 15-8. It’s the first time Longoria and Rodriguez have played together, but they compliment each other, as Longoria usually plays on the left side and Rodriguez the right, so the partnership has worked so far.

The Vero Beach Open concludes on Saturday. The singles semi-finals are in the morning with both the singles and doubles final in the afternoon. Look for the action via the LPRT YouTube channel, as well as the LPRT Facebook page.

LPRT Vero Beach Open
February 17-19, 2022 - Vero Beach, Florida

LPRT Singles - Quarterfinals - Friday

1) Paola Longoria d. 9) Brenda Laime, 15-7, 15-0
12) Erika Manilla d. 13) Kelani Lawrence, 15-7, 15-13

3) Maria Jose Vargas d. 6) Montserrat Mejia, 15-11, 14-15, 11-5
2) Alexandra Herrera d. 23) Jenny Daza, 15-4, 15-2

LPRT Singles - Semi-finals - Saturday

1) Paola Longoria v. 12) Erika Manilla - 11 AM
2) Alexandra Herrera v. 3) Maria Jose Vargas - 10 AM

LPRT Doubles - Semi-finals - Friday

1) Alexandra Herrera & Montserrat Mejia d. 5) Kelani Lawrence & Hollie Scott, 9-15, 15-8, 11-8
2) Paola Longoria & Maria Renee Rodriguez d. 3) Natalia Mendez & Maria Jose Vargas, 15-11, 15-8

LPRT Doubles - Final - Saturday

1) Alexandra Herrera & Montserrat Mejia v. 2) Paola Longoria & Maria Renee Rodriguez - 5 PM

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