Four upsets in Round of 16 at 2023 LPRT Frontline Boston Open

Four of the eight Round of 16 matches at the Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) 2023 Frontline Boston Open in Marlbrough, Massachusetts Friday were upsets, although two of them were not real surprises. But the two top seeds were winners in straight games. LPRT #1 Paola Longoria beat 16th seed Maria Paz Riquelme, 15-3, 15-1, and the 2nd seed Montserrat Mejia defeated 15th seed Nancy Enriquez, 15-7, 15-4. Longoria will play 8th seed Angelica Barrios, who beat 9th seed Brenda Laime, 15-10, 15-5, which was a surprisingly large margin. Mejia’s next opponent is 10th seed Samantha Salas, who had one of those upsets, as she defeated 7th seed Kelani Lawrence, 15-13, 14-15, 11-4, but this wasn’t very surprising, as Salas is a former #2 player.

It was surprising when 13th seed Valeria Centellas knocked off 4th seed Natalia Mendez, especially as she did so in straight games, 15-6, 15-11. Centellas will face 12th seed Maria Jose Vargas in the quarters, as Vargas came back to defeat 5th seed Jessica Parrilla, 13-15, 15-6, 11-5. While Vargas’s win is quite an upset by the seeding, like Salas, Vargas is a former #2 player on tour, and was a finalist two weeks ago in Arizona.

The final upset was 11th seed Hollie Scott’s win over 6th seed Carla Muñoz, 15-7, 15-13, which sets up an All American battle in the quarters when Scott plays 3rd seed Erika Manilla, who was a winner over 14th seed Cristina Amaya, 15-6, 15-13. Amaya had a large lead in game two, and looked like she was going to force a tie-breaker, but couldn’t find the way to finish the game off.

No upsets in doubles. Third seeds rd seeds Manilla and Mejia came back to defeat 6th seeds Barrios and Laime, 5-15, 15-10, 11-2, and will play 2nd seeds Centellas and Mendez in the semi-finals on Saturday. Centellas and Mendez beat 7th seeds Amaya and Maria Paz Riquelme, 15-6, 15-3, in the quarters.

The other semi-final will be top seeds Longoria and Salas against 4th seeds Lawrence and Scott. In the quarters, Longoria and Salas beat 8th seeds Martina Katz and Annie Roberts, 15-5, 15-2, and Lawrence and Scott defeated 5th seeds Muñoz and Parrilla, 15-8, 15-6.

You can watch the action live from Massachusetts via the LPRT YouTube channel. Play continues Saturday with singles quarterfinals in the morning and semi-finals in the afternoon and doubles semi-finals in the evening. Play concludes Sunday with the singles final at noon and doubles final at 1 PM. All times Eastern.

2023 LPRT Frontline Boston Open
Marlborough, Massachusetts, March 3-5, 2023

Round of 16 - Friday

1) Paola Longoria d. 16) Maria Paz Riquelme, 15-3, 15-1
8) Angelica Barrios d. 9) Brenda Laime, 15-10, 15-5

12) Maria Jose Vargas d. 5) Jessica Parrilla, 13-15, 15-6, 11-5
13) Valeria Centellas d. 4) Natalia Mendez, 15-6, 15-11

3) Erika Manilla d. 14) Cristina Amaya, 15-6, 15-13
11) Hollie Scott d. 6) Carla Muñoz, 15-7, 15-13

10) Samantha Salas d. 7) Kelani Lawrence, 15-13, 14-15, 11-4
2) Montserrat Mejia d. 15) Nancy Enriquez, 15-7, 15-4

Quarterfinals - Saturday

1) Paola Longoria v. 8) Angelica Barrios - 11 AM
12) Maria Jose Vargas v. 13) Valeria Centellas - 11 AM

3) Erika Manilla v. 11) Hollie Scott - 10 AM
2) Montserrat Mejia v. 10) Samantha Salas - 10 AM

Doubles - Quarterfinals - Friday

1) Paola Longoria & Samantha Salas d. 8) Martina Katz & Annie Roberts, 15-5, 15-2
4) Kelani Lawrence & Hollie Scott v. 5) Carla Muñoz & Jessica Parrilla, 15-8, 15-6

3) Erika Manilla & Montserrat Mejia d. 6) Angelica Barrios & Brenda Laime, 5-15, 15-10, 11-2
2) Valeria Centellas & Natalia Mendez d. 7) Cristina Amaya & Maria Paz Riquelme, 15-6, 15-3

Doubles - Semi-finals - Saturday

1) Paola Longoria & Samantha Salas v. 4) Kelani Lawrence & Hollie Scott - 6 PM
2) Valeria Centellas & Natalia Mendez v. 3) Erika Manilla & Montserrat Mejia - 5 PM

Follow the bouncing ball….