Well, it has been a minute since the Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour was in action, but here we are with one last event for the 2025-26 season. This is the 2026 LPRT Northern Virginia Invitational, being held at the Worldgate Club in Herndon, VA. This has always been one of the nicest clubs in the DC-area, just a few minutes from Dulles Airport and the flagship of a work/shopping complex that is home to more than a few tech firms that you may have heard of.
The Ladies tour has not had an event since January, a huge amount of time to be off, and a sign of the difficulties pro racquetball faces these days. The LPRT has lost half a dozen tournaments in the last few years alone; we used to have a slam in South Carolina at the Sweet Caroline Open, the Boston Open was a spring fixture, Malia Bailey used to get the crew together in Chesapeake at the end of every season, the Battle at the Alamo in San Antonio was a long-running LPRT stop, and of course for years the season ended with a Super Max slam in Kansas City thanks to Randy Root. All of these events are now gone for one reason or another, and the tour has struggled to get replacements.
The draw in DC is just 15 pros, and for the first time that I can remember there’s a bye in the round of 16 of a pro event. Hopefully the tour can rebound and put together a good slate of events for the fall.
#1 Maria Jose Vargas has officially sewn up the #1 ranking for the season; she has an unassailable lead at the top of the standings. We’ll cover her title and its implications in our season wrap up later this month. However, there’s still top 10 spots to jockey for, and the ladies in attendance are set to finish their season on a high note.
R2 Sports App link: https://www.r2sports.com/website/event-website.asp?TID=54043
draw size, observations
top 10 players missing; #3 Longoria (pregnant, work or both), #6 Laime (who just recently graduated grad school, congrats), #9 Lotts.
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Let’s preview the draw.
round of 16:
– Munoz vs MRR (ahem, Josey) in the 8/9 is a fun one.
– Teenager Costa Rica phenom Larissa Faeth takes on Tier 1 winner Alexandra Herrera.
– the newly minted Hall of Famer @Rhonda Rajsich battles @Valeria Centellas, who is now up to #8 in the rankings and is seeded 6th here.
– Stephanie Synhorst, new Northern Virginia resident with her USMC-related transfer to the Pentagon, takes on Amaya.
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Projected Qtrs:
– Vargas over Munoz, a frequent 1-8 matchup
– Herrera over Mendez. They’ve played 12 times across LPRT and IRF, and though Mendez got her the last time they played (2025 PARC), Herrera h olds a commanding lead in their meetings.
– Gaby over Valeria: Centellas has been impressing, but Gaby still is the better player here.
– Mejia over Amaya
Semis:
– Vargas over Herrera: Maria Jose is too powerful.
– Mejia over Gaby in a battle that’s been fought for more than a decade.
Finals; Vargas takes out Mejia to finish the season with another title.
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Doubles review
Just 5 teams entered, but world’s two top teams are seeded 1 and 2. Look for Vargas/Centellas to meet Mejia/Herrera and for Vargas to take the double.
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Look for Streaming in the regular places; follow the LPRT on Facebook and sign up to get notifications when they go Live. Lok for Timothy Baghurst, Sandy Rios, Jerry J Josey Jr., and Tj Baumbaugh on the mike, calling the shots!
Thanks to the Tourney Directors X and X for putting this event on!
Thanks to our main sponsors X and X and X; it goes without saying that without you and your support, we don’t have a sport.