There were four semi-finals (2 singles & 2 doubles) Saturday at the 31st Annual Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) Christmas Classic in Millersville, Maryland, and three of them needed tie-breakers with two finishing 11-10 in the breaker. Perhaps surprisingly, Paola Longoria was involved in both of those 11-10 matches.
In singles, she lost to Maria Jose Vargas, 13-15, 15-10, 11-10, in a battle of the LPRT’s #2 and #3 players, respectively. But Longoria was a winner in doubles with her longtime partner Samantha Salas, as they defeated a very resilient team of Kelani Lawrence and Hollie Scott, 15-7, 12-15, 11-10.
We call Lawrence and Scott resilient, because they were down 10-1 in game two, and came back to tie it at 12-12, and then push ahead to win 15-12, forcing a tie-breaker with Longoria and Salas. In that run, Lawrence - playing on the left side - was hitting backhand drive jam serves to the right that were coming over to Longoria on the left and she wasn’t comfortable taking them. Longoria and Salas actually switched sides at one point, so Salas could return that serve, which she did effectively.
The breaker was a see-saw game, as Longoria and Salas got the first two points, then Lawrence and Scott got the next four, to lead 4-2. The next eight points went to Longoria and Salas, who then led 10-4.
Lawrence and Scott fought off that match point, and then scored six straight points of their own from two Lawrence winners and four Scott winners to tie the score at 10-10. Longoria ended that run with a backhand cross court winner. The match ended when Scott hit Lawrence with a shot on the next rally.
Despite the loss, Lawrence and Scott showed that they are a “never quit” team by making big comebacks in both game two and three. They had one opportunity to serve for the match, so they could easily have won it.
Longoria showed some resilience of her own in the tie-breaker against Vargas, as she was down 5-1 and 10-6, yet came back to tie the game at 10-10. She fought off three match points to create the 10-10 tie before Vargas served up a drive serve ace to the left side that won her the game, 11-10, and match, 2-1.
In Sunday’s singles final, Vargas will play LPRT #1 Montserrat Mejia, who broke 13th seed Cristina Amaya’s glass slipper, by winning their semi-final match 15-8, 15-3. It was Amaya’s first semi-final or better finish since March 2017, when she was in the New Jersey Open final. Moreover, it’s just Amaya’s 8th LPRT semi-final or better finish in her career.
Amaya reached the semis by upsetting 5th seed Gabriela Martinez, 4-15, 15-14, 11-5, in the quarterfinals Saturday morning.
Longoria and Salas, the top seeds, will play 2nd seeds Alexandra Herrera and Mejia in the doubles final Sunday, as Herrera and Mejia came back from a game down to defeat 6th seeds Gabriela Martinez and Maria Renee Rodriguez, 13-15, 15-6, 11-7.
The singles final is noon Sunday with the doubles final to follow at 1 PM. You can watch the action live from Maryland via the LPRT YouTube channel. All times Eastern.
31st Annual LPRT Christmas Classic Pro-Am
Millersville, Maryland - December 8-10, 2023
Quarterfinals - Saturday
1) Montserrat Mejia d. 9) Samantha Salas, 15-2, 15-11
13) Cristina Amaya d. 5) Gabriela Martinez, 4-15, 15-14, 11-5
3) Maria Jose Vargas d. 6) Alexandra Herrera, 15-3, 15-10
2) Paola Longoria d. 10) Kelani Lawrence, 15-4, 15-2
Semi-finals - Saturday
1) Montserrat Mejia d. 13) Cristina Amaya, 15-8, 15-3
3) Maria Jose Vargas d. 2) Paola Longoria, 13-15, 15-10, 11-10
Final - Sunday
1) Montserrat Mejia v. 3) Maria Jose Vargas - Noon
Doubles - Semi-finals - Saturday
1) Paola Longoria & Samantha Salas d. 4) Kelani Lawrence & Hollie Scott, 15-7, 12-15, 11-10
2) Alexandra Herrera & Montserrat Mejia d. 6) Gabriela Martinez & Maria Renee Rodriguez, 13-15, 15-6, 11-7
Doubles - Final - Sunday
1) Paola Longoria & Samantha Salas v. 2) Alexandra Herrera & Montserrat Mejia - 1 PM
Follow the bouncing ball….
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