After seeing their win/loss record fall as low as 2-6, the New York Buzz rose from the dead. A July 18th victory in Boston was the team's third win in a row. Coming into their home finale against the Philadelphia Freedoms, the Buzz shared third place in the Eastern Conference...with, conveniently enough, the Freedoms. While neither team's 5-6 mark is anything to shout about, it left them only 1 1/2 games back of the Hartford FoxForce, who are currently holding down the second of the conference's two playoff spots. A fairly good sized crowd came out to MVP Stadium to watch New York and Philly battle to keep their postseason hopes afloat.

First set: men's doubles -- Crabb/Vahaly vs. Eagle/Fruttero

Hitting nice returns and crisp passing shots, Jaymon Crabb and Brian Vahaly sprinted to a 4-1 lead in the evening's opening set. At 15-30 in Game 6, John Paul Fruttero of the Freedoms struck a highly questionable ace, disputed by fans and players alike. Evie Dominikovic applauded from the Buzz bench when someone in the crowd suggested they "throw the beanbag!" However, WTT's instant replay system (in which a coach challenges a call by throwing a beanbag/flag) was not in place on Wednesday night, so the call stood. Momentum quickly went to Philadelphia, as the Freedoms held to 2-4, broke Vahaly for 3-4, and held again to force a tiebreak.

JC serving: Service winner by Crabb -- 1-0 BUZZ

JC: Josh Eagle cracks an inside-out forehand return for a clean winner -- 1-1

JPF: Fruttero launches a service winner -- 2-1 FREEDOMS

JPF: Another unreturnable serve from Fruttero -- 3-1 FREEDOMS

BV: Eagle sends a forehand wide and screams -- 3-2 FREEDOMS

BV: Crabb strikes a punishing forehand volley -- 3-3

JE: Fruttero earns set point, putting away a smash -- 4-3 FREEDOMS

JE: Crabb catches the frame of Eagle's racket with a passing shot -- 4-4

JE: Crabb rips a forehand pass right at Eagle, who reflexes a remarkable backhand volley winner -- 5-4 FREEDOMS

OVERALL SCORE: FREEDOMS 5, BUZZ 4

Second set: women's doubles -- Dominikovic/Stewart vs. Gullickson/Tatarkova

Without part-time Freedoms player Lisa Raymond in the lineup, doubles chores would fall to Carly Gullickson and Elena Tatarkova. Looking every bit the American teenager she is, with painted nails and a colorful array of bracelets, Gullickson held serve to open the set. Evie Dominikovic saved two break points in the following game, but sent a lob sailing over the baseline on game point to fall behind 0-2. Game 3, a love hold for Tatarkova, featured Bryanne Stewart's second unhappy racquet bounce of the night. Brian Vahaly, generally quiet during the matches, tried to encourage his teammate with a cry of "C'mon, Bryanne!" It was for naught, as Stewart quickly tossed in a double fault and two forehand errors. Tatarkova drove a volley at Dominikovic's feet on game point to clinch the break and a 4-0 lead.

With the Freedoms now having won eight games in a row, it was easy to see why Gullickson and Tatarkova giggled their way through the ensuing changeover. Gullickson promptly went back out and secured the bagel, holding at love to wrap up a 5-0 whitewash of the "Lady Buzz." It was an impressive showing from the road squad, but even more glaring as a setback for Bryanne Stewart, whose back problems have limited her contributions this season. "It's a shame that she's been injured the last two weeks," said Evie Dominikovic after the match. "She's not 100 percent at all. I think she's not even 50 percent."

OVERALL SCORE: FREEDOMS 10, BUZZ 4

Third set: mixed doubles -- Crabb/Dominikovic vs. Eagle/Gullickson

Starting their fifth different mixed doubles combination in the past six home matches, the Buzz rested Bryanne Stewart and went with the new pairing of Jaymon Crabb and Evie Dominikovic. Their opening game featured one particularly memorable rally in which Crabb hit several balls as hard as he possibly could at Carly Gullickson. The 18-year-old stood her ground, blocking back one after another until she finally won the point with a drop volley. It was enough to earn a round of applause from the Schenectady fans and a huge bear hug from partner Josh Eagle (perhaps best known as Patrick Rafter's good buddy).

Crabb may have lost that inter-gender battle with Gullickson, but he ultimately won the war, holding for 1-0. The lead went to 2-0 when Crabb got a shanked return to fall in for a winner, breaking Eagle. Dominikovic held easily to 3-0 and Gullickson coughed up a double fault on game point to make it 4-0. The Buzz were suddenly right back in the match, trailing by just two games in the cumulative tally. Crabb narrowed that gap to one, overcoming a pair of double faults as he served out a 5-0 blowout. "They killed us," Carly Gullickson would later admit. She even shrugged off the self-defense effort she'd put in against Crabb's hefty shots in the opening game. "I just tried to, like, reflex 'em back, get 'em back."

OVERALL SCORE: FREEDOMS 10, BUZZ 9

Fourth set: women's singles -- Evie Dominikovic vs. Carly Gullickson

With the cumulative score so close, the pressure was on Philly's young Carly Gullickson and erratic Buzz starlet Evie Dominikovic. After three routine holds, it was Gullickson who forced an opening, coming up with a running forehand pass to pull ahead 0-40 on Dominikovic's serve. After the first two break points went by the boards, Gullickson guided a winning backhand return down the line for a 3-1 edge. Gullickson played good, attacking tennis in an easy hold to 4-1, but Dominikovic struck back for 2-4.

The seventh game went to deuce, which in WTT's no-ad scoring is a single, sudden death point. Both players gave it their all, throwing themselves around the court in a spectacular all-court rally. It ended with Dominikovic desperately throwing her racquet at a nifty, well-placed Gullickson pass. The thrilling conclusion to Gullickson's 5-2 win was still sticking in Dominikovic's craw after the match. "I think if I had got that last point, where we had that long rally, I felt I could've taken the whole match," said the dejected Aussie. For her part, Gullickson said, "Evie's a great player. I just tried to serve good and get to the net as much as possible."

OVERALL SCORE: FREEDOMS 15, BUZZ 11

Fifth set: men's singles -- Brian Vahaly vs. John Paul Fruttero

Would it be deja vu all over again for recent birthday boy Brian Vahaly? Just as in the come-from-behind wins he led by blasting Brian MacPhie and Roger Anderson at the Schenectady Racquet Club in the season's opening week, his trailing team's hopes were riding on his back in another pivotal fifth set. Standing across the way this time would be 24-year-old John Paul Fruttero, whose powerful serve-volley game and American flag headband both recall former Team Tennis stalwart David Wheaton. Counterpunching well against the attacking Fruttero, Vahaly reached deuce in his first two return games. Both times, however, Fruttero came up with the goods, saving himself with big service winners.

Game 5 saw Fruttero ease up on the net-rushing and control some points from the baseline. Vahaly could merely hit defensive forehands from his heels, including one on a break point that sailed long, giving Fruttero a winning lead of 3-2. After an exchange of service holds made it 4-3, Freedoms coach Craig Kardon advised Fruttero to "keep going for it." John Paul certainly did that: Game 8 was comprised of an ace, two service winners, and one last ace on match point. The love hold impressively put the finishing touches on a 5-3 victory for Fruttero.

FINAL SCORE: FREEDOMS 20, BUZZ 14

There were no cardiac theatrics from Brian Vahaly on this occasion, as New York's home campaign ended on a helpless note. John Paul Fruttero put the last nail in the coffin, but Carly Gullickson also helped put ten big numbers on the board with her wins in women's doubles and singles. The daughter of former Major League Baseball pitcher Bill Gullickson has come a long way since getting drilled 5-1 by Marina Hingis early in the WTT season. "I got my butt kicked," Carly freely admits of that July 5th rout. "It was my second match and I was so nervous. I swear to God I've never been so nervous. World TeamTennis is the most nervous I've ever been. But now I'm fine." Fine enough, in fact, that the pressure of coming in with a mere one game lead at the start of singles didn't bother her. "You get used to it, coming out there and having to, you know, perform every point and every game."

The aggressive style Gullickson displayed in her singles win carried over to this interview, as she kept jumping in with answers before I'd finished asking the questions! "This is my first year to play World TeamTennis and I've been having so much fun," she said. "I couldn't ask for a nicer team." Suddenly, after an 0-4 start, the nice team that shares its name with an Elton John song is thinking playoffs. Philadelphia's win coincided with a Hartford loss, moving the 6-6 Freedoms to within striking distance of the 6-5 FoxForce in the battle for second place in the East. Philly now controls its own destiny, as Gullickson explains. "We have two matches against Hartford, that's our next two, so hopefully we'll do good against them and get there." A wild card into next month's US Open is also on Carly's personal wish list. "I hope so, yeah. I'll find out in the next few weeks, but if not, I'll play qualies."

Meanwhile, the 5-7 Buzz will finish without a winning record for the third year in a row. Nonetheless, Evie Dominikovic has enjoyed her first season of World TeamTennis. "It's been so much fun with this whole team. I've had a ball. I'd love to do it again next year." What next year has in store is an open question, since Buzz owner Nitty Singh is entertaining bids that would move the team from Schenectady to neighboring Albany or Saratoga. "We heard that we might not be here, but it's not definite," cautions Dominikovic, who has enjoyed the atmosphere at Central Park. "There's people who've been coming week in, week out, every day pretty much. Thanks to them for supporting us. It's a shame we couldn't really do much for them. Hopefully next year we'll come back and do a lot better."