2024 SWEET CAROLINE OPEN – Greenville, South Carolina
Maria Jose Vargas (ARG) earned another title at Greenville, South Carolina’s Sweet Caroline Open, her 5th for the 2023-2024 season. She fought off a comeback from Paola Longoria (MEX) to win 11-10 in the tiebreaker, Longoria was down 10-5. In doubles action, the duo of Montse Mejia (MEX) and Alexandra Herrera (MEX) took home another trophy, solidifying why they are the #1 ranked doubles players.
The LPRT would like to thank the team that hosted the 2024 Sweet Caroline Open, it was another fantastic event. Thank you to South Carolina Racquetball President Jacob Varughese along with James Stone, Kooper Pablo-Keita Buchanan, Jerry J Josey Jr., Maria Renee Rodríguez, Matt Dersch, Josh Osborne, Holli Snyder Meindl, Amber Ritacco, Brittany Bracket, Amy Farmer, and Geoff Goldberg. Thank you to the host site Sportsclub Greenville for supporting racquetball. And a big shout out to Mrs. Watkins for supplying the event with her world-famous banana pudding.
Thank you to Todd Boss of ProRacquetballStats.com for his event recap:
LPRT 2024 Sweet Caroline Wrap-up
Congrats to your Pro winners on the weekend:
- Singles: Maria José Vargas
- Doubles: Alexandra Herrera and Montse Mejia
Both #1 seeds take the pro draws, but both also had to endure 11-10 wins to do so along the way.
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Let's review the notable matches in the Singles draw.
In the 32s:
- #17 Michelle Key continues to build points after being away from touring for years by topping #16 Stephanie Synhorst
- #21 Sheryl Lotts, who's also been away from the tour for months after being a regular fixture, returned with a great win over #12 Hollie Scott.
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In the 16s:
- #9 Carla Muñoz took out #8 Cris Amaya 7, 6 to try to stay in the tour's top 10.
- #11 Natalia Mendez got her best win in months, taking out the mercurial #6 Brenda Laime to move into the quarters for the third time this season.
- - #7 Kelani Lawrence survived a 15-14 game one to advance past the resurgent #10 Jessica Parrilla .
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In the Quarters
- the top 4 seeds advanced as expected, with a couple of the matches being close.
- #4 Alexandra Herrera ground out a close 13,14 win against #5 Ana Gabriela Martinez to get back to the semis.
- #1 Vargas was pressed by long-time South American rival #8 Munoz 11.10.
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In the Semis
- #1 Vargas cruised past #4 Herrera 8,5 to earn her 5th final out of the 7 tournaments played this season.
- #3 Paola Longoria reminded everyone where she belongs in the pecking order right now, taking out last year's tour champ #2 Mejia in a hard fought 11-8 breaker.
In the Finals, Vargas took game one 12, then fell in game two 7 to set up another finals tiebreaker against the long time tour champion. In the tiebreaker, Vargas was fully in control and cruised to a 10-5 lead, but Longoria fought back. Vargas served for the match another 6 times without winning the final point as Longoria amazingly got it back to 10-10 and had some opportunities but couldn't capitalize.
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Doubles Review
The top ranked team survived an 11-10 thriller in the semis against the hodge-podge team of Martinez & Parrilla, then destroyed #2 Vargas/Mendez in the final for yet another title. Herrera & Mejia have now won 5 of the season's 6 titles and lost in the final of the one event they didn't win.
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Open Singles, other notable draws
- Mendez topped San Antonio USA junior Naomi Ros in the final of Women's Open. Ros got there by beating #1 seed Muñoz, which has to be a career best win.
- the Commish T. J Baumbaugh teamed with Kanesha Madison to take the 3-team Women's Open Doubles draw.
- Former IRT touring pro Maurice Miller topped #1 seed Dylan Pruitt for the Men's Open singles title.
- Pruitt teamed with Georgia's Austin Cunningham to take the Men's Open Doubles title.
- Pruitt made it a "double double" (also my favorite order at In and Out Burger) by taking the Mixed Pro/Open title with Lotts.
BATTLE AT THE BEACH – LPRT Season Finale Chesapeake, Virginia Greenbrier North YMCA
The 2023-2024 season came to an end in June. The finale included exciting tiebreakers, upsets, and a few season ending player awards to round out the competition. Paola Longoria (MEX) dominated the singles draw without dropping a game. Montse Mejia (MEX) and Alexandra Herrera (MEX) clinched their almost perfect run, 6 out of 7 titles, to finish the season decisively the #1 doubles team.
The LPRT would like to thank Battle at the Beach tournament director, Malia Bailey, for hosting another great event. Thank you also to Justin Carpenter and Bill Milbach for all you did to make the event a success. Our gratitude goes out to all the sponsors who made the event possible, including Invicta Security Services – Presenting Sponsor, Joreth Consulting – Presenting Sponsor, Fleet Valet Services - Presenting Sponsor, Jeff Wagner, Excel Paving, Greg Giordano, Tidewater Landworks, and Spencart Properties.
Thank you to Todd Boss of ProRacquetballStats.com for his event recap:
LPRT 2024 Battle at the Beach Recap
Congrats to your Pro winners on the weekend:
- Singles: Paola Longoria
- Doubles: Montse Mejia and Alexandra Herrera
Longoria wins her 113th career LPRT Title (Tier 1 or above), but it isn't enough to keep Maria Jose Vargas from finishing the season at #1. Mejia & Herrera finish off a complete domination of the LPRT doubles season, winning 6 of the 7 tournaments held (and losing in the final of the only one they didn't win).
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Let's review the notable matches in the Singles draw.
In the 32s, just one match with a 17-person draw. Newly crowned Liberty University graduate Maria Renee Rodríguez, who has missed most of the season after being a tour regular for years, entered and fell to #16 Sheryl Lots, who herself was also a regular on tour for years but who missed most of this season. Hope to have both back full time touring next season.
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In the 16s, there was just one upset by seed but a couple other notable matches;
- In the 8/9, #9 Carla Muñoz took out #8 Cristina Amaya 8,4 but it wasn't quite enough for Munoz to finish the year ahead of the Colombian (see later on for points analysis).
- #5 Kelani Lawrence, a career high ranking, topped her doubles partner #12 Hollie Scott playing on home turf in Chesapeake.
- The most shocking result was probably #7 @Natalia Mendez beating Samantha Salas Solis by the dominant scoreline of 3,4.
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In the Quarters
- #1 Maria José Vargas, who entered the event with a 278 point lead on Longoria for the year end title, realistically only had to just show up and advance a round to seal the year end title, left no doubt about it by moving into the semis with a solid win over fellow South American Munoz here. We'll talk more about Vargas' accomplishment in a bit.
- In the always fun 4/5 match, Lawrence (who always plays tough on her home courts), took #4 Herrera to a breaker before falling.
- #3 Longoria, who needed a win here plus a lot of help to secure her 14th career LPRT tour title, made fast work of #6 Brenda Laime 8,1 to move on. Laime shocked Longoria last season but the GOAT left no doubt here.
- #2 Mejia had to work for it but moved past the resurgent Mendez 9,8.
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In the Semis, two upsets.
- #1 Vargas fell to the left Herrera in three close games 14,(9),9.
- #3 Longoria cruised past Mejia 9,8 to secure 2nd place this season for certain.
In the Finals, Longoria dominated for stretches and took the title 5,10 over Herrera.
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Doubles Review
There were only 7 doubles teams, but the competition was fierce. An 11-10 breaker in the quarters, and both semis going tiebreaker as well, but the final was as expected: the two top Mexican teams. Once it was Mejia/Herrera versus Longoria/Salas, the battle was on. But the final ended up being anticlimactic, as the #1 pair won 5,9.
Mejia & Herrera finish off a complete domination of the LPRT doubles season, winning 6 of the 7 tournaments held (and losing in the final of the only one they didn't win).
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Open Singles, other notable draws
- Mendez took Women's Open over Lotts
- Dylan Pruitt won the Men's open over Chesapeake's Justin Carpenter
- Maurice Miller teamed with Maria Renee Rodriguez to win the Mixed Pro doubles exhibition, an event that featured a slew of the LPRT pros playing with the top men who had travelled to play this event.
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That's it for the 2023-24 LPRT season!
The 2023-2024 season came to an end in June. The finale included exciting tiebreakers, upsets, and a few season ending player awards to round out the competition. Paola Longoria (MEX) dominated the singles draw without dropping a game. Montse Mejia (MEX) and Alexandra Herrera (MEX) clinched their almost perfect run, 6 out of 7 titles, to finish the season decisively the #1 doubles team.
The LPRT would like to thank Battle at the Beach tournament director, Malia Bailey, for hosting another great event. Thank you also to Justin Carpenter and Bill Milbach for all you did to make the event a success. Our gratitude goes out to all the sponsors who made the event possible, including Invicta Security Services – Presenting Sponsor, Joreth Consulting – Presenting Sponsor, Fleet Valet Services - Presenting Sponsor, Jeff Wagner, Excel Paving, Greg Giordano, Tidewater Landworks, and Spencart Properties.