Hello Racquetball fans. This is part 2 of the LPRT 2024-25 season ending recap series. In Part 1 last week, I loaded up the official year end standings for the tour and did the data entry into the www.proracquetballstats.com database to show the rankings properly in various season-wide reports.
Here, we’re going to review the top 10 ladies of the year. In a fun twist, I’ll also refer back to my recap from last season where I made a far-too-early prediction on this year’s finish. The two reports to have up while reading through this report are the Season Summary Report https://rball.pro/84115e and the Season-ending rankings https://rball.pro/5eca5e .
– #1: Paola Longoria .1521.5 points, 22-5 for the year. 2 titles, 4 finals, 1 semi.
Longoria is back on top after a two year hiatus, She was dominant all year, making every final until the last event (where she already had the title wrapped up). She re-took over #1 on tour in December and didn’t look back. This is her 14th career pro title and at age 35 seems to have settled down after a couple of years of life changes (she got married and got elected to the Mexican congress). I predicted last year she’d either finish #1 or retire; clearly not retiring. Now i’m predicting she stays right where she is; at #1, though not nearly as dominantly as in year’s past.
– #2-T Monserrat Mejia: 1218 points, 18-5 for the year. 2 titles, 1 final, 3 semis.
Amazingly, both Vargas and Mejia finished tied for 2nd on tour with the exact same results and record for the season. The two met four times though, with Mejia winning 3 of the 4, but there’s no tiebreaker here. Mejia’s 5 losses on the season were to Longoria three times, Laime, and Vargas. After dominating the 2022-23 season, she fell to zero titles in 23-24, but rebounds this year with 2 wins, bringing her career total to 8 titles. I predicted she’d stay at #3 last year, but she’s stepped up. I’m predicting she returns to #2 next season.
– #2-T @Maria Jose Vargas : 1218 points, 18-5 for the year. 2 titles, 1 final, 3 semis.
Vargas takes a small step back from her dominant 5-win 23-24 season but stays tied for 2nd. Despite tying for 2nd, Vargas is trending downward, having lost 3 of 4 versions Mejia. I thought she would take the title again last year; now i think she’ll finish 3rd next season.
– #4. Ana Gabriela Martínez 919 points. 15-5 for year. 1 title, 1 final, 3 semis.
Gaby really put it together this season, getting her 3rd career title and finishing 4th, her highest ever season finish. She only missed one event, which really helped keep her ranking high. She managed to go the entire season w/o facing Mejia and gave Longoria two of her losses this season. I predicted last year she’d continue to languish in the 9-10 range on tour, but clearly she’s part of the upper tier of four players right now, each of whom had a title this year. I think she sticks right in the #4 spot next season again unless she misses too many events. The wildcardd for Gaby finishing top4 will be @Erika Manilla ‘s health and Herrera’s attendance.
– #5 @natalia mendez, 528 points, 9-7 for the season. 7 quarters in 7 events
Mendez was a model of consistency this year, never once getting upset in the 16s and earning exactly a quarter final berth in all seven events. This was enough to let her stick at the #7 seed for most of the season, then jumping the next two rivals for #5 at season’s end. I sense though she was lucky not to get an upset-special round of 16 this year and probably finishes closer to #10 next year, as I predicted last y ear.
– #6. @Brenda Laime Jalil 492.5 points. 8-6 for season, 2 semis, 3 qtrs
Laime remains in the #5-#6 range for the third straight year, but did it with a slightly different pathway than in year’s past. Two years ago she was Jeckyl and Hyde, making 3 finals but also losing in the 16s four times. This year she cut down on early upsets (only one upset in the 16s at the NoVa event) and had more consistency. Had she not missed the Arizona Open she may very well have finished 5th. I think she continues to finish right in this spot until she can get more breakthrough wins.
– #7 Kelani Lawrence 487.5 points, 8-7 for season 6 qtrs and one 16s upset
Lawrence had almost an identical season to Mendez, save for one round of 16 upset to Parrilla in the Xmas classic last December. She continues to be a model of consistency on tour, nearly always advancing into the quarters but falling at that Juncture. She has made just one semifinal in her entire career, but the quarters 20 times. Nonetheless, she’s now finished in this 6-7 range for two years in a row and i think she’ll continue to be right here next season.
– #8 @Alexandra Herrera , 451.5 points, 7-5 this season, 2 semis, 3 qtrs, 2 missed
Herrera, a mainstay in the top 4 for nearly a decade, missed two events this year that likely cost her enough points to drop from #4 to #8 on tour. Her big rival this year turned out to be Gaby as they met in the 4/5 quarter final spot three times this season. She managed to avoid her doubles partner Mejia, but the two missed events cost her. If she can make all the tournaments, I think she returns to that 4-5 range. however, the #8 spot is a really tough spot to get away from; even if she wins a round of 16 she projects right into the top player on tour, who she’s got wins against but whom has had her number lately. She may be stuck here for a bit.
– #9 Jessica Parrilla , 320.25 points, 6-7 for season, 2 qtrs and 4 round of 16s
There’s a bit of a drop-off from 8 to 9 in the points, defining a bit of separation on tour between the ladies ranked in the 9-11 range versus those ranked in the 6-8 range. Leoni returns to the top 10 after missing out last season, and managed to do it with a couple of solid wins over Lawrence and Laime to earn quarterfinals appearances. She also held off round of 16 upsets to keep this spot. I sense though she may get pushed down a bit going forward, especially in the 9-10 seed spot.
– #10: @CriCristina Amaya Cassino , 302.5 points, 3-7 for season, 1 qtr
Amaya just pipped Salas for #10 and thus stays in the top 10 for the second season in a row after dropping well out for a few years. This pivot in performance for a lady in her mid 30s is crazy, and well earned for Amaya. Her biggest win of the season was over Munoz in Chicago, which was instrumental in finishing at this spot. Also, kudos and bravo to Amaya for her awesome Racquetball News TV Weekly series: if you’re not following her on Youtube or Facebook you should be.
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Next up, we’ll cover the rest of the tour notables, talk about some trends in the sport and on tour, and talk about what may happen next year.
In the Vargas paragraph, “versions” appears instead of “versus”.
Despite tying for 2nd, Vargas is trending downward, having lost 3 of 4 versions Mejia.
Otherwise, great recap with only the usual FB corrections expected. 🙂 (#10 CriCristina …)