Longoria defeats Laime to win 2023 LPRT Battle at the Alamo

Paola Longoria defeated Brenda Laime, 15-7, 15-3, to win the Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) 2023 Battle at the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas on Saturday. Longoria’s win helps her in the race to be #1 at the end of the season. She’s been the #1 LPRT player for 13 seasons, including the last 10 consecutive.

Longoria played well in the final, and in playing well, it took away Laime’s opportunities to counter-punch, which is as aspect of her game that Laime usually does very well.

Longoria may also have not felt much pressure against Laime, who as the 11th seed, isn’t one of the strongest players on tour. Laime did beat Longoria last season, but that’s likely more motivation for Longoria to ensure a loss wasn’t going happen again on Saturday.

The win is Longoria’s 3rd of the season, but first since the US Open in October. Montserrat Mejia has won the last four LPRT events, and she is the threat to stop Longoria’s #1 ranking streak. But Mejia lost in the quarterfinals in San Antonio, so she may need to win the last two events to have a chance to finish #1.

Mejia won’t have to wait long to try to win another LPRT event, as the LPRT will be in action next weekend at the Sweet Caroline Open in Greenville, South Carolina, May 4-7, 2023. The 2022-23 LPRT season will end with the LPRT at the Beach tournament in Chesapeake, Maryland, June 15-17, 2023.

Other divisions

In what was a bit of surprise, Carla Muñoz and Alan Natera won the Mixed Doubles title. They were seeded 3rd, and upset top seeds Maria Jose Vargas and Alejandro Landa in the final, 15-13, 15-13.

In the semi-finals, Muñoz and Natera defeated 10th seeds Laime and Marcelo Vargas Aguilar, 13-15, 15-12, 11-7. Laime and Vargas Aguilar got to the semis by knocking off 2nd seeds Holly Scott and Daniel De La Rosa in the quarterfinals.

In the other semi, Vargas and Landa beat Erika Manilla and Erik Garcia, 15-5, 15-9.

Valeria Centellas defeated Annie Roberts, 15-9, 15-4, to win the LPRT U21 division. In the semi-finals, Centellas, the top seed, beat 4th seed Camila Rivero, 15-8, 15-10, and 2nd seed Roberts beat 3rd seed Martina Katz, 15-3, 15-4.

If you missed any of the action from San Antonia, go to the LPRT YouTube channel.

2023 LPRT Battle at the Alamo
San Antonio, Texas - April 27-29, 2023

Final - Saturday

1) Paola Longoria d. 11) Brenda Laime, 15-7, 15-3

LPRT U21 Singles - Final - Saturday

1) Valeria Centellas d. 2) Annie Roberts, 15-9, 15-4

LPRT U21 Singles - Semi-finals - Saturday

1) Valeria Centellas d. 4) Camila Rivero, 15-8, 15-10
2) Annie Roberts d. 3) Martina Katz, 15-3, 15-4

Mixed Doubles - Final - Saturday

1) Maria Jose Vargas & Alejandro Landa v. 3) Carla Muñoz & Alan Natera, 15-13, 15-13

Mixed Doubles - Semi-finals - Saturday

1) Maria Jose Vargas & Alejandro Landa d. 4) Erika Manilla & Erik Garcia, 15-5, 15-9
3) Carla Muñoz & Alan Natera d. 10) Brenda Laime & Marcelo Vargas Aguilar, 13-15, 15-12, 11-7

Follow the bouncing ball….

Longoria & Laime in final at 2023 LPRT Battle at the Alamo

Paola Longoria, the #1 player on the Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT), has not had an easy time of it at the 2023 LPRT Battle at the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas. However, she’s passed all the tests that have come her way, and made it through to the final on Saturday. Longoria advanced to the final by defeating former LPRT #2 Maria Jose Vargas, 15-10, 8-15, 11-7. It was the second tie-breaker she had to play Friday after needing three games to get past Carla Muñoz in the quarterfinals, at hat was after a 15-13, 15-14 match against Gabriela Martinez in the Round of 16 on Thursday.

No, it’s not been an easy path to the final at all.

Longoria will face 11th seed Brenda Laime in the final, as Laime defeated veteran Samantha Salas in the other semi, 15-11, 15-11.

Longoria got off to a good start against Vargas, going up 5-1 in game one. But Vargas came back and tied it at 7-7, only to see Longoria surge ahead again to lead 12-7, and close it out at 15-10.

In game two, Vargas took the lead early, and when she led 7-3, Longoria called a time out. Vargas maintained the lead, and when it was 11-4, Longoria called her second timeout.

She was able to narrow the gap after that, making it 12-8. However, the writing was on the wall, and Vargas closed it out at 15-8.

Usually, when the first two games are not close, the tie-breaker is. But that didn’t look likely, when Longoria jumped out to a 4-0 lead. At 5-1, Vargas called a timeout.

That did little to slow Longoria down, as she went out to a 9-2 lead. Longoria had a chance to make it 10, but made an unforced error when she skipped a backhand shot.

Cue the comeback.

Vargas scored five unanswered points from there to make it 9-7, and wasn’t deterred by Longoria calling both her timeouts during that run. You had the sense that maybe she could come all the way back.

Vargas was using a Z serve to Longoria’s backhand for her second serve, and it’d made Longoria a bit uncomfortable. So, it was predictable that Vargas was going to hit it for second serve at 7 serve 9, and Longoria jumped over to take it early with her forehand for a winner.

That halted Vargas’s momentum, and led to a back and forth of sideouts. Longoria broke the deadlock with a forehand cross court winner to make it 10-7. She only needed the one match point, as Vargas skipped a backhand shot on the next rally, giving Longoria the win.

It was a very competitive match, but not one of great overall quality. Both players were great for spurts, but neither seemed to really be on their "A" game, which for the neutral made for a good watch.

What to expect in the final

A final between the tour’s #1 player, who’s dominated the sport for 15 years, and an 11th seed seems like a complete mismatch. If there was a betting line on this, Longoria would be the clear favourite over Laime.

And yet Laime is in with a shout here, in part, because she already has a win over Longoria. She’s also lost to Longoria four times, but still one win over Longoria is more than most players on tour have.

So, we’re saying there’s a chance.

You can watch Laime take her chance live from San Antonio via the LPRT YouTube channel. The final will 4:40 PM Saturday Central time.

2023 LPRT Battle at the Alamo
San Antonio, Texas - April 27-29, 2023

Semi-finals - Friday

1) Paola Longoria d. 12) Maria Jose Vargas, 15-10, 8-15, 11-7
11) Brenda Laime d. 10) Samantha Salas, 15-11, 15-11

Final - Saturday

1) Paola Longoria v. 11) Brenda Laime - 4:40 PM

LPRT U21 Singles - Round of 16 - Friday

1) Valeria Centellas - BYE
8) Naomi Ros d. 9) Khyathi Velpuri, 15-2, 15-7

4) Camila Rivero - BYE

3) Martina Katz - BYE
6) Paula Mansilla - BYE

7) Yanna Salazar d. 10) Leonela Osorio, 15-7, 15-8
2) Annie Roberts - BYE

LPRT U21 Singles - Quarterfinals - Friday

1) Valeria Centellas d. 8) Naomi Ros, 15-7, 15-6
4) Camila Rivero - BYE

3) Martina Katz d. 6) Paula Mansilla, 15-6, 15-6
2) Annie Roberts d. 7) Yanna Salazar, 15-13, 15-12

LPRT U21 Singles - Semi-finals - Saturday

1) Valeria Centellas v. 4) Camila Rivero - 10:10 AM
2) Annie Roberts v. 3) Martina Katz - 10:10 AM

Mixed Doubles - Quarterfinals - Friday

1) Maria Jose Vargas & Alejandro Landa d. 8) Alexandra Herrera & Diego Gastelum, 15-10, 15-9
4) Erika Manilla & Erik Garcia d. 5) Kelani Lawrence & Cole Sendrey, 15-4, 15-8

3) Carla Muñoz & Alan Natera d. 11) Paola Longoria & Christian Longoria, 14-15, 15-2, 11-7
10) Brenda Laime & Marcelo Vargas Aguilar d. 2) Hollie Scott & Daniel De La Rosa, 12-15, 15-7, 11-8

Mixed Doubles - Semi-finals - Saturday

1) Maria Jose Vargas & Alejandro Landa v. 4) Erika Manilla & Erik Garcia - 11:15 AM

3) Carla Muñoz & Alan Natera v. 10) Brenda Laime & Marcelo Vargas Aguilar - 11:15 AM

Follow the bouncing ball….

Mejia's winning streak ends at the Alamo

Three tie-breakers in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) Battle at the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas Friday. The most significant result was 10th seed Samantha Salas upsetting LPRT #2 Montserrat Mejia, 15-9, 10-15, 11-6, which was Mejia’s first loss on tour since August. She’s won four consecutive LPRT tournaments, but that streak ends at the Alamo.

Eighth seed Carla Muñoz almost went one better than Salas, as she went to a tie-breaker with LPRT #1 Paola Longoria. But in the end Longoria prevailed, coming back from a game down to defeat Muñoz, 12-15, 15-10, 11-4. Longoria will play Maria Jose Vargas in the semi-finals later on Friday, as Vargas beat Erika Manilla, 15-3, 15-6.

Salas will play 11th seed Brenda Laime in the other semi-final, as Laime held on to defeat Valeria Centellas, 15-12, 1-15, 11-7, in the quarters.

In the Salas-Mejia tie-breaker, Salas got the first four points, but Mejia responded by winning the next four to tie it 4-4. Salas went up 7-4, helped by two drive serve aces to the right side. Again Mejia responded by getting within one at 7-6.

That was as close as she got, as Salas won the final four points on consecutive rallies - and despite Mejia taking a timeout at 10-6. In that streak, Mejia skipped two shots that were open chances to win those rallies, and the unforced errors killed her.

Muñoz started well against Longoria, leading for almost all of game one, although it did take her six game points to finish it off. Longoria got off to a good start in game two, with 5-2 and 7-4 leads, but Muñoz came back and tied it at 7-7 and 8–8. She took the lead at 10-8 with a drive serve ace to the left side, but Longoria came back and tied it 10-10.

When Longoria went ahead 11-10, Muñoz called a timeout, but that didn’t help her cause, as Longoria hit a drive serve ace to the left side when play resumed. She also won the next three rallies to close out game two, 15-10.

The breaker was all Longoria, as she took a 5-0 lead, so Muñoz called a timeout. That did lead to a sideout and a point when played resumed, but Longoria then took the serve back and five rallies later and it was 10-1. Although the writing was on the wall, Muñoz did get a few points before Longoria ended it at 11-4.

Muñoz will have another chance to beat Longoria, as they’ll face off in the Pro Mixed Doubles quarterfinals Friday night. Longoria and her brother Christian defeated Mejia and Diego Romano, 11-15, 15-4, 11-2, in the first round of mixed play, and will play Muñoz and Alan Natera in the quarters.

You can watch the action live from San Antonio via the LPRT YouTube channel. The semi-finals are at 4:40 and 5:45 PM Friday and the final at 4:40 PM Saturday. All times Central.

2023 LPRT Battle at the Alamo
San Antonio, Texas - April 27-29, 2023

Quarterfinals - Friday

1) Paola Longoria d. 8) Carla Muñoz, 12-15, 15-10, 11-4
12) Maria Jose Vargas d. 4) Erika Manilla, 15-3, 15-6

11) Brenda Laime d. 14) Valeria Centellas, 15-12, 1-15, 11-7
10) Samantha Salas d. 2) Montserrat Mejia, 15-9, 10-15, 11-6

Semi-finals - Friday

1) Paola Longoria v. 12) Maria Jose Vargas - 5:45 PM
10) Samantha Salas v. 11) Brenda Laime - 4:40 PM

Mixed Doubles - Round of 16 - Friday

1) Maria Jose Vargas & Alejandro Landa - BYE
8) Alexandra Herrera & Diego Gastelum d. 9) Stephanie Synhorst & Brennen Jennings, 15-6, 15-7

5) Kelani Lawrence & Cole Sendrey - BYE
4) Erika Manilla & Erik Garcia - BYE

3) Carla Muñoz & Alan Natera - BYE
11) Paola Longoria & Christian Longoria d. 6) Montserrat Mejia & Diego Romano, 11-15, 15-4, 11-2

10) Brenda Laime & Marcelo Vargas Aguilar d. 7) Natalia Mendez & Sam Hojat, 15-6, 15-10
2) Hollie Scott & Daniel De La Rosa - BYE

Mixed Doubles - Round of 16 - Friday

1) Maria Jose Vargas & Alejandro Landa v. 8) Alexandra Herrera & Diego Gastelum - 9 PM
4) Erika Manilla & Erik Garcia v. 5) Kelani Lawrence & Cole Sendrey - 7:55 PM

3) Carla Muñoz & Alan Natera v. 11) Paola Longoria & Christian Longoria - 7:55 PM
2) Hollie Scott & Daniel De La Rosa v. 10) Brenda Laime & Marcelo Vargas Aguilar - 9 PM

Follow the bouncing ball….