The Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) Sweet Caroline Open begins Thursday in Greenville, South Carolina. There’s a field of 21 players, including seven of the top ten players headed by LPRT #1 Paola Longoria and LPRT #2 Alexandra Herrera, who will be looking to win her 3rd LPRT event in a row. No one other than Longoria has won three tournaments in a row since 2008, when American Rhonda Rajsich won six consecutive titles. Since then Longoria has often won consecutive tournaments, although not the last two, when Herrera has beaten her in the final.
Whether Herrera can make it three in a row is one interesting aspect of this weekend’s tournament, as is the appearance of American Aimee Roehler in the doubles draw. She’s playing with Erika Manilla, who she’ll play with at the USA Racquetball National Championships later this month, and it will be interesting to see how far the three time former International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Champion can go in the draw this weekend.
Roehler and Manilla are seeded 8th, so they’ll play their first match on Thursday against the young team of Shane Diaz and Naomi Ros. If they win that, they’ll face the top seeds: Longoria and Samantha Salas, the current IRF Women’s Doubles World Champions. That’ll be a tough match, but Roehler - playing as Aimee Ruiz - is one of the few people to defeat Longoria and Salas, doing so with Janel Tisinger at the 2016 IRF World Championships. Also, Manilla (playing with Rajsich) was runner up to Longoria and Salas at last year’s IRF World Championships, so she has experience against the Mexicans as well.
There are a couple of other teams to note in doubles. Herrera’s usual doubles partner Montserrat Mejia won’t be in Greenville, so she’s playing with another fellow Mexican Jessica Parrilla. They face the Colombian team of Cristina Amaya and Adriana Riveros in their first match. Also, Guatemalan Maria Renee Rodriguez’s usual partner - Gabriela Martinez - is missing this weekend, so she’s playing with Chilean Carla Muñoz. They’ll play the American team of Kelani Lawrence and Hollie Scott in their first match.
Note that play begins on Thursday, and the finals will be on Saturday. There will be one round of singles matches on Thursday, and then two rounds on both Friday and Saturday. They’ll play two rounds of doubles on Thursday, and then the semi-finals on Friday evening at 6 and 7 PM. The singles final will be 4 PM Saturday with the doubles final to follow at 5 PM. All times EDT. Look for the action via the LPRT YouTube channel, as well as the LPRT Facebook page.
2022 LPRT Sweet Caroline Open
May 12-14, 2022 - Greenville, South Carolina
LPRT Singles - Round of 32 - Thursday
1) Paola Longoria - BYE
16) Sheryl Lotts v. 17) Micaela Meneses - Noon
9) Valeria Centellas - BYE
8) Samantha Salas - BYE
5) Jessica Parrilla - BYE
12) Nancy Enriquez v. 21) Naomi Ros - 10 AM
13) Hollie Scott v. 20) Mary Kirchoff - 10 AM
4) Natalia Mendez - BYE
3) Maria Jose Vargas - BYE
14) Maria Renee Rodriguez v. 19) Adriana Riveros - 11 AM
11) Kelani Lawrence - BYE
6) Rhonda Rajsich - BYE
7) Erika Manilla - BYE
10) Carla Muñoz - BYE
15) Cristina Amaya v. 18) Jessica Chen - Noon
2) Alexandra Herrera - BYE
LPRT Doubles - Round of 16 - Thursday
1) Paola Longoria & Samantha Salas - BYE
8) Erika Manilla & Aimee Roehler v. 9) Shane Diaz & Naomi Ros - 1 PM
5) Kelani Lawrence & Hollie Scott - BYE
4) Carla Muñoz & Maria Renee Rodriguez - BYE
3) Alexandra Herrera & Jessica Parrilla - BYE
6) Cristina Amaya & Adriana Riveros - BYE
7) Sheryl Lotts & Rhonda Rajsich - BYE
2) Valeria Centellas & Natalia Mendez - BYE
Follow the bouncing ball….
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