Invicta Security Services Crowns Herrera Champion
Sep 11, 2022
The LPRT returned to Chesapeake, Virginia for a pro event full of epic matches and a few upsets. Alexandra Herrera (MEX) earned her 3rd pro title, this time battling against first-time finalist Brenda Laime (COL). Laime upset #1 Longoria in a quarterfinal battle, winning 11-10 in the tiebreaker to make her first semifinal. Laime then went on to upset Erika Manilla (USA) in the semifinals to later fall to Herrera.
The doubles team of Kelani Lawrence (USA) and Hollie Scott (USA), earned their first title together, knocking out the #1 seeds on their way. This was Lawrence’s 2nd doubles title, but her first on her home court at the Greenbrier North YMCA.
Thank you to Tournament Director, Malia Bailey, for hosting the LPRT for a second time (first was in 2019), and thank you to all of the sponsors who supported the event: Presenting Sponsor Invicta Security Services, City Wide Auto & Truck Sales, Excel Paving Corporation, LPL Financial, Manilla Athletics, Virginia Sports and Spine Rehab and Performance
Thank you Todd Boss of proracquetballstats.com for a full event recap:
LPRT at the Beach
Congrats to your winners on the weekend:
- Singles: @Alexandra Herrera
- Doubles; Kelani Lawrence and Hollie Rae Scott
It was an interesting weekend in Chesapeake. Lets read on for some thoughts.
R2 Sports App home page for event: https://www.r2sports.com/portfolio/r2-event.asp?TID=32188
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Lets review the notable matches in the Singles draw.
Singles Match report in the PRS database: https://rball.pro/o32
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In the 16s:
- #8 Brenda Laime crushed #9 Scott 3,9, a result that portended the rest of the weekend.
- #4 Erika Manilla needed a breaker to get past the veteran tour player Cris Amaya .
- In the 7/10 match-up, home town fans were rewarded with a solid win by Kelani Lawrence , who got an excellent win over Argentinian Valeria Centellas
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In the Quarters
- #8 Laime sent shockwaves across the landscape by upsetting #1 Paola Longoria 11-10 in the breaker. Laime's classical game has gotten her big wins in the past (she has career wins over multiple top-4 players in the past couple of seasons), but never as big of a win as this. Longoria's quarter-final loss was the first time she's lost that early in a pro event since February of 2008, a pretty amazing feat.
- #4 Manilla outlasted #5 Jessica Parrilla in a breaker. After losing 14 in the first, she cruised to a 15-2, 11-3 win.
- #6 Carla Munoz upset #3 Mendez and returned to the pro semis for the first time since April of 2017 with a solid 11,14 two game win.
- #2 Herrera squeaked out a 15-14, 15-14 two game win over Lawrence. Not much between these two players on the day.
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In the Semis
- Laime rebounded from a first game let-down to move past Manilla in a breaker to get to the final. This tournament represents the first time Laime has advanced to the semis in her career, and now its the first time she's made a pro final.
- Herrera cruised past Munoz 6,7 to get to the final.
In the Finals, Herrera took her 3rd career title by topping Laime 7,12.
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Points Implications of results
There are no 2021 points to expire, so there's not a ton of changes with these results.
- #2 Herrera closes the gap a bit on #1 Longoria, thanks to her early loss. She still leads by nearly 1,000 ranking points at the top.
- Mendez and Mejia switch places at 4/5, with Mejia missing the event.
- Parrilla and Barrios switch places at 7/8, again with Barrios missing the event.
- Lawrence moves into the top 10 I believe for the first time.
- Laime bumps up her ranking from 13 to 11 with the finals appearance.
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Doubles review
Match report in the PRS database: https://rball.pro/7gv
A small pro doubles draw was taken by USA reigning national champs Scott and Lawrence, a first pro doubles title for Scott and second for Kelani. They crushed Longoria/Centellas 1,12 in the final.