Anna Leigh Waters/Catherine Parenteau claimed the first spot in the women’s doubles final with an 11-5, 11-7 victory over first-time partners No. 4 seeds Lacy Schneemann/Parris Todd.

It looked like the top seeds would cruise to the win when they got up 8-2 in the second game after taking the first, but a run from Schneemann/Todd brought the score to 6-8.

Not wanting to play a third game, Waters raised her level and brought extra aggression that helped her and Parenteau regain the momentum and close out the contest a few minutes later.

“Usually when it’s tight, I tend to play better and move my feet more. I definitely need to start doing that earlier on in the games,” Waters admitted. “Especially in that first game, I felt like maybe I wasn’t playing my best, even though Catherine played really well.”

That attitude helped the 18-year-old find her best with a trip to Championship Sunday on the line.

Waters/Parenteau will face either No. 3 seeds Tyra Black/Jorja Johnson or No. 6 seeds Jackie Kawamoto/Jade Kawamoto in the final.

Tyra Black/Jorja Johnson emerged from the second semifinal with a 4-11, 11-1, 11-7 victory over No. 6 seeds Jackie Kawamoto/Jade Kawamoto.

Things didn’t look good for the No. 3 seeds when they dropped the first game by a large margin, but switching positions to have Johnson on the left and Black on the right helped them even the match with a dominant Game 2 display.

They carried the momentum from that triumph with them into the decider, which they won comfortably to advance to their second PPA final as a partnership.

Black played especially well down the stretch and extended rallies with some incredible displays of defense.

“That defense was just my tennis game, honestly. I was super scrappy and did whatever I had to in order to get the ball back and make my opponents hit one more shot, and that kind of transferred over to my pickleball game,” she explained.

This Championship Sunday appearance comes at a welcome time for the Dallas Flash teammates, who just last week were upset in Red Rock in the Round of 16 by Kaitlyn Christian/Christa Gecheva.

“I just really enjoy being out here battling with Tyra. It’s really fun both in MLP and PPA,” Johnson said. “I had a bit of a rough weekend last time out in Utah, so I’m happy to bounce back. That’s team chemistry right there.”

Top seeds Anna Leigh Waters/Catherine Parenteau await in the final.