Montserrat Mejia was a double winner at the 2025 Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) Mile High Open in Denver, Colorado, Saturday, when she won both singles and doubles. In the singles final, she defeated LPRT #1 Maria José Vargas, 15-11, 8-15, 11-8, and then, for the doubles final, teamed up with Alexandra Herrera to beat Vargas and Valeria Centellas, 15-8, 15-14.
The win is Mejia’s first since June, when she defeated Paola Longoria at the Northern Virginia Invitational, and it ended Vargas’s three tournament winning streak.
The singles final was hard fought, and looked like it was going to go the other way. After winning game two to force a tie-breaking third game, Vargas took a 7-1 lead in that game, and looked like she was going to complete the come back.
But Vargas got stalled at that point, as they played nine rallies without scoring. During that stretch, she hit Mejia on a serve return, as Mejia hit a drive Z serve to the right side that Vargas took early, trying to hit a forehand cross court shot. Adding insult to injury, an avoidable was called against Mejia.
Mejia was clearly upset about being hit at that point, as it was the third time it had happened in the match. Although she didn’t immediately start scoring points after that incident, it’s easy to imagine that Mejia found some extra motivation from it.
When the points did come, they came quickly, as Mejia got 8 points from 11 rallies, including a drive serve ace to the left side, which was her 4th ace of the match, to lead 9-7. Vargas did get the next point, but momentum had clearly switched sides, as it was 26 rallies between Vargas’s 7th point and her 8th.
Mejia finished off the breaker on her first match point, as she hit another drive serve ace to the left side that cracked out just past the short line, to win game three 11-8.
It was a long match overall, and especially game three, which was almost as long as either of the first two games. Game three had 49 rallies after there were 52 rallies in game one and 50 in game two.
Herrera and Mejia got off to a great start in the doubles final, as they went up 6-0 in game one. They maintained their lead throughout that game, as Centellas and Vargas didn’t get closer than three points, at 7-4 and 10-7. Herrera and Mejia went on to win 15-8.
Game two was close all the way, and much longer. Game one had 50 rallies, while game two had 73. Herrera and Mejia were generally ahead, although the lead was never more than two points, and Centellas and Vargas even lead at 9-8.
But Herrera and Mejia then got five unanswered points, including four on as many rallies, as they took their largest lead at 13-9. Centellas and Vargas called a timeout.
When play resumed, Centellas and Vargas got the serve back, and scored a point of their own. But then surrendered the serve again. Centellas then skipped a backhand down the line shot that put Herrera and Mejia on match point at 14-10.
However, Centellas hit back to back winners to get her side the serve back. Another Centellas winner made the score 14-11. They got three more points to tie the game at 14-14, after Centellas hit a drive serve ace to Herrera on the left side.
On their first game point, Centellas and Vargas gave up the serve, as Centellas was forced into trying to save the rally with a back wall shot that didn’t make it back to the front wall.
They fought off Herrera and Mejia’s third match point, as Vargas hit a forehand pinch shot. But on the next rally, Herrera hit a forehand cross court shot that Vargas unsuccessfully tried to save off the back wall, so Herrera and Mejia won game two, 15-14, and the match in two straight games.
In the doubles semi-finals earlier on Saturday, Herrera and Mejia beat Brenda Laime and Natalia Mendez, 15-14, 15-5, while Centellas and Vargas needed a tie-breaker to fend off Sheryl Lotts and Lexi York, 15-6, 10-15, 11-7.
The LPRT will next be in action at their longest running event: the LPRT Christmas Classic in Severna Park, Maryland, December 4-7. If you missed any of the action from Denver, and both finals are well worth watching, check out the LPRT YouTube channel.
2025 LPRT Mile High Open
Denver, Colorado - November 6-9, 2025
Final - Saturday
2) Montserrat Mejia d. 1) Maria José Vargas, 15-11, 8-15, 11-8
Doubles - Final - Saturday
3) Alexandra Herrera & Montserrat Mejia d. 1) Valeria Centellas & Maria Jose Vargas, 15-8, 15-14
Doubles - Semi-finals - Saturday
1) Valeria Centellas & Maria Jose Vargas d. 5) Sheryl Lotts & Lexi York, 15-6, 10-15, 11-7
3) Alexandra Herrera & Montserrat Mejia d. 2) Brenda Laime & Natalia Mendez, 15-14, 15-5
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