The New York Buzz can't seem to catch a logistical break this season. A power outage at MVP Stadium in Schenectady's Central Park moved the team's home opener indoors. Friday it was Mother Nature to blame, with a dour forecast of considerable rainfall meaning another trip to the Schenectady Racquet Club. Making matters worse, the Buzz were without an opponent at the scheduled 7 o'clock start time. A delayed flight left the visiting Delaware Smash stranded in Baltimore, officially delaying the match until 8:30. The Smash finally took the court at 8:45...for a warmup. It wasn't until 9:30, two and a half hours behind schedule, that the Buzz and Smash finally squared off.

Approximately 100 fans (and only one reporter) were on hand for this tennis rarity: an immediate rematch. The Buzz and Smash had met the previous night, with Delaware eking out a 22-20 victory on its home court. Leading the way for the Smash was Liezel Huber, fresh off winning the women's doubles championship at Wimbledon. While her supporting cast doesn't look as imposing as the tight-knit Smash club that won the World TeamTennis title in 2003, chemistry doesn't figure to be a problem. Huber's new teammates (Chanelle Scheepers, Robbie Koenig, and Roger Anderson) and coach (Mariaan de Swardt) all hail from her homeland, South Africa.

First set: men's doubles -- Crabb/Vahaly vs. Anderson/Koenig

Roger Anderson was a relatively late addition to the Smash lineup, stepping in for Wayne Odesnik, who suffered a knee injury and was released from the team. In fact, the Smash's own web site still lists Odesnik instead of Anderson. As it turned out, however, Roger was the star of Friday night's opening set. A love break of Jaymon Crabb's serve in Game 3 was clinched by back-to-back Anderson winners. Crabb was broken again in Game 7, with an errant Brian Vahaly volley capping a 5-2 win for the visitors.

OVERALL SCORE: SMASH 5, BUZZ 2

Second set: women's doubles -- Dominikovic/Stewart vs. Huber/Scheepers

Scrappy WTT veteran Liezel Huber was in high spirits, smiling and joking around with members of both teams throughout the second set. Much as she did with former Smash partner Samantha Reeves, Huber played a captain's role here, ordering 20-year-old Chanelle Scheepers around the doubles court. Sluggish play on the other side of the net helped Delaware's cause. Evie Dominikovic served up a double fault on game point to fall behind 0-2. Bryanne Stewart, meanwhile, was a racquet bouncing picture of frustration as Huber and Scheepers sprinted out to a 3-0 lead.

The "Lady Buzz," who managed to win this matchup on Thursday night, did get the ship turned around. Strong play from Dominikovic was the key as she and Stewart broke Huber's serve and reeled off 3 games in a row to even the set. Scheepers held for 4-3, putting the pressure squarely on Stewart. The affable blonde faltered, double faulting for 0-30 and sending a forehand long on triple set point. It was quick revenge for Huber and Scheepers, who came out ahead on this night by a 5-3 margin.

OVERALL SCORE: SMASH 10, BUZZ 5

Third set: mixed doubles -- Vahaly/Stewart vs. Koenig/Huber

The Smash seemed to be on an unstoppable roll early in the mixed, breaking Brian Vahaly's serve in the opening game. However, their fortunes changed in a scary, dramatic way on the final point of Game 2. Going up for what would have been a high forehand volley, Liezel Huber let the ball sail long, then landed awkwardly on her left knee. Huber crumbled to the court, screaming out, "My knee! My knee!" The cries of sheer agony that followed left no doubt that Huber had suffered a serious injury. Both benches emptied as players, coaches, and a trainer rushed to the reigning Wimbledon champion's aid. After a considerable delay, Huber was gingerly helped to her feet and virtually carried to a courtside chair, her left knee heavily taped and iced. Huber was still there, sobbing and disconsolately shaking her head, when a pair of medics arrived.

Action resumed on the nearby court, with Chanelle Scheepers replacing Huber. But even as he tried to play, an understandably distracted Vahaly continued shooting glances over at Huber, who winced every time the medics applied any pressure to her left leg. The Smash took their mixed doubles lead to 4-1 and overall lead to 14-6 as Huber was loaded onto a stretcher and taken to the hospital, accompanied by Smash coach Mariaan de Swardt.

Without their coach and star player, the Smash seemed to lose their own focus a bit. A winning forehand pass by Stewart enabled the Buzz to break Robbie Koenig's serve and narrow the gap to 2-4. Playing much better than she had in women's doubles, Stewart closed out Game 7 with an ace. Delaware ultimately did close it out, though, with Scheepers holding at love to wrap up a 5-3 win of the mixed doubles. The result was, needless to say, overshadowed by Huber's presumably severe injury. "I said to my coach, I thought we should stop and I'll go to the hospital," Brian Vahaly said afterwards. "My intensity wasn't very good once she left, because I was more concerned for her than winning the match, to be honest."

OVERALL SCORE: SMASH 15, BUZZ 8

Fourth set: women's singles -- Evie Dominikovic vs. Chanelle Scheepers

Roughly 24 hours after Chanelle Scheepers blasted Evie Dominikovic 5-1, the Australian veteran had a shot at revenge. Scheepers obliged, coughing up three double faults in her first two service games as a relatively dialed in Dominikovic ran out to a 4-0 lead. Some words of encouragement from her remaining teammates seemed to settle down Scheepers, who got to 1-4 with an ace. Dominikovic badly shanked a couple forehands in Game 6 and bounced her racquet in disgust after dropping serve to 4-2. Evie broke right back, however, and raised a clenched fist after putting away a forehand volley to win it 5-2.

OVERALL SCORE: SMASH 17, BUZZ 13

Fifth set: men's singles -- Brian Vahaly vs. Roger Anderson

It was deja vu for Brian Vahaly, once again asked to bail his team out of a major hole in the final set. His opponent this time around would be an old ACC college tennis rival -- Roger Anderson played for Georgia Tech at the same time Vahaly attended the University of Virginia. More recently (just over a month ago), Anderson bested Vahaly 6-4, 6-0 at a challenger event in Yuba City. Undeterred, Vahaly came charging out of the blocks like a man on a mission, dropping only two points in the first three games.

Vahaly extended his lead to 4-1 and forced an all-important game point in Game 6. Winning it would have given Vahaly the set and forced the match into a supertiebreaker. Anderson, however, forced Vahaly wide, drawing an error that kept the Smash alive in the set at 2-4. Anderson pumped his fist and carried his momentum into Game 7, earning a break point chance. Vahaly responded with a sick backhand winner down the line. A service winner on the next point ended the 5-2 set. The Buzz still trailed by two points, but by winning the final set, Vahaly had forced overtime.

OVERALL SCORE: SMASH 19, BUZZ 18

Brian Vahaly knew what the sensation was like, having completed an overtime comeback against Brian MacPhie on this same court just two nights ago. Roger Anderson appeared less comfortable. After two errors sandwiched around a double fault, Anderson trailed 0-40 in his all important service game. He saved the first two break points, but Vahaly had another shot at 30-40. A deep drive from Vahaly caught the baseline, forcing an off-balance Anderson to misfire with a forehand. With the small crowd roaring its approval, the match would be settled in a supertiebreaker.

OVERALL SCORE: SMASH 19, BUZZ 19

Even without a coach on hand, the Smash managed to pull off a substitution, finally bringing Robbie Koenig off the bench to face Vahaly in the deciding first-to-seven-points tiebreak. Given that Koenig had beaten Vahaly in singles roughly 24 hours prior, the move seemed entirely warranted.

BV serving: Vahaly knocks off a forehand volley winner -- 1-0 BUZZ

BV: Koenig chips a backhand wide -- 2-0 BUZZ

RK: Koenig does his team's name proud, putting away a smash -- 2-1 BUZZ

RK: Vahaly leans into a winning cross-court backhand pass -- 3-1 BUZZ

BV: Koenig slices a backhand into the net -- 4-1 BUZZ

BV: Vahaly surrenders the mini-break on a forced backhand error -- 4-2 BUZZ

RK: After ripping a cross-court forehand winner, Vahaly pumps his fist -- 5-2 BUZZ

RK: Koenig drives an unreturnable forehand into the corner -- 5-3 BUZZ

BV: A great rally ends with Vahaly lacing a forehand winner down the line -- 6-3 BUZZ

BV: Vahaly just misses the sideline with a forehand -- 6-4 BUZZ

RK: Koenig steers a backhand volley wide to end it; Vahaly jogs to the net with a raised fist -- 7-4 BUZZ

FINAL SCORE: BUZZ 20, SMASH 19

Another night; another stirring, improbable come-from-behind win engineered by Brian Vahaly. "I knew my teammates were depending on me. That's why they put me on last," said Vahaly when I grabbed him for a one-on-one after the match. "We're excited to win. It's another huge, dramatic win for us." This celebration was a muted one, however, as Liezel Huber's injury continued to cast a pall over the proceedings. "Honestly, I think most of us are mainly concerned with Liezel, just because she's one of our good friends. I mean, everybody on the team is good friends with her. I just really hope it's nothing long term." Calling Huber a clear cut favorite to win the US Open doubles with Cara Black if healthy, Vahaly added, "If anybody's at the top of her game right now, it's her. She's an unbelievable player. Unbelievably friendly, too."

The Schenectady Racquet Club has been very good to Vahaly, but he's looking forward to finally playing a match at the Buzz's outdoor stadium. "I'd love to have the atmosphere and everybody involved. That's something that I'm most excited about. Two of our matches already have been indoors. Thankfully, I play some of my best tennis indoors, so it's worked out well so far, but I think it would be more exciting and a little bit more fan friendly to be outside. I really hope that the rain goes away and we can start to have good crowds." With all the revenue lost in the Buzz's first two home matches, team owner Nitty Singh is surely hoping for good crowds as well. Tickets will be going for $30 a pop when Martina Hingis leads the New York Sportimes into Schenectady on Monday.