Among the songs playing over the PA system as fans filed in for Wednesday night's match between the New York Buzz and visiting Philadelphia Freedoms was the Journey classic "Don't Stop Believin'." Adopted as a theme song by last year's World Series winning Chicago White Sox, it might have served as a rallying cry for the Buzz. In the midst of a six match losing streak, with an overall record of 2-7, the home team needed all the self-belief it could muster. As the wait for the match's delayed start dragged on, an even more appropriate tune blared over the speakers: Europe's sports arena chestnut "The Final Countdown," complete with the lyric, "we're heading for Venus and still we stand tall." Yes indeed, Venus Williams was in town, making her first World TeamTennis appearance of the season and her first ever visit to Schenectady. Plans to move the match to a larger venue (with Union College emerging as the favorite) never came to fruition, but Buzz ownership had been right to anticipate high demand. Despite ticket prices jacked up to $39 and $49, the 2500-seat CDPHP Tennis Complex was filled to capacity.

Prior to the match, I overheard Katrina Adams -- on hand as one of the announcers for the match's TV coverage -- say the start would be pushed back so the stands would be full when the cameras rolled. Sure enough, none of the players took the court until a good 30 minutes after the announced start time. An additional delay of approximately 15 minutes ensued before Venus Williams made her entrance, drawing a hearty round of applause from the remarkably patient patrons. Williams may have been fashionably late, but she wasn't making one of her vaunted fashion statements. She was clad in a simple white dress, not unlike what teammate Lisa Raymond was wearing. The additions of Williams, Raymond, and Jaymon Crabb (flling in for an absent Frederic Niemeyer) left Daniel Nestor as the only holdover from lineup the Freedoms used to defeat the Buzz a week prior. Would the different roster mean a different result?

First set: mixed doubles -- Lipsky/Ditty vs. Nestor/Williams

Taking the court for the first time since Wimbledon, Venus Williams got off to a shaky start -- the very first point saw her drive a forehand return into the net. It would be an easy opening hold for Scott Lipsky of the Buzz, but Williams got herself going in the following game, striking three winners at the net as partner Daniel Nestor held for 1-1. One fan's chant of "Venus, Venus, we love you" midway through Game 3 was immediately followed by Williams shanking a forehand so badly that it nearly landed in the stands. Nestor bailed her out, though, knifing away a volley on deciding point to break Julie Ditty's serve and give the Freedoms a 2-1 lead. Williams tacked on a hold for 3-1, then curiously chose to change her racquet at the ensuing changeover.

Perhaps feeling the pressure against a pair of Grand Slam doubles champions, Lipsky double faulted twice in Game 5, losing it at love. Fortunately for the home squad, Nestor's mighty southpaw serve was looking quite a bit weaker than it had in the teams' previous meeting. He practically appeared to be spinning it in as he was broken at 15. That narrowed the gap to 4-2, but any hopes the Buzz had of rallying in mixed doubles were largely erased when Williams whipped a forehand return down the line for a 15-30 advantage on Ditty's serve. Three points later, Lipsky missed a volley to make it official: behind three service breaks, Nestor and Williams had prevailed by a 5-2 count.

In an odd bit of unscripted etiquette, the four players exchanged handshakes at the net -- an act usually reserved for the end of a WTT match, not merely the end of the first set. I interpreted it as a deferential sign of how much the Buzz players were honored to be sharing the court with Williams, but Scott Lipsky disavowed me of that notion afterwards. "I'm just used to doing it, so I did," he said of the handshake. "I didn't really think about it." Nevertheless, it had been a fairly impressive display from Venus, especially compared to the discombobulated effort she and Bob Bryan put in to lose the Wimbledon mixed doubles final.

OVERALL SCORE: FREEDOMS 5, BUZZ 2

Second set: women's doubles -- Ditty/Kutuzova vs. Raymond/Williams

All eyes were still on Venus Williams as she opened the proceedings in women's doubles. The first game was all Venus: an ace down the T, a service winner, an ugly netted forehand, and ultimately a break-surrendering double fault. Julie Ditty followed up with a hold for the Lady Buzz, who took a surprising 2-0 lead. Ditty and partner Viktoriya Kutuzova each delivered a winning lob in Game 3, getting the better of some terrific rallies en route to a break of Lisa Raymond's serve. Just like that, the overall match score was tied and the women's doubles tandem with the worst record in the league was on a tear.

Things only got better for the home team in Game 4. Ditty and Kutuzova made some scrappy stabs to stay alive in a point they ultimately won for 15-0. Kutuzova then got a lucky ace off the net cord (allowed in WTT) for 30-0. The Freedoms got back to 30-all, but promptly lost the game when Williams committed a pair of wild, unforced forehand errors. Williams did serve big in holding to 1-4, but the Buzz quickly earned multiple set points at 40-15 in Game 6. Scott Lipsky rose to his feet at the New York bench and waved his arms, egging on a crowd that gone from politely starstruck to rabidly pro-Buzz.

Philadelphia saved the first set point and looked well on its way to staving off a second when Ditty found herself in a protracted one-on-one exchange with Williams. However, it was the unheralded lefty who prevailed when Williams awkwardly dumped a volley in the bottom of the net, capping a 5-1 upset. The shocking outcome earned the Buzz's loudest ovation of the season, mixed in with the triumphant strains of U2's "Beautiful Day" on the sound system. Even for an impartial observer, it was a fairly stirring scene. Sure, the visiting superstar looked rusty, but take nothing away from Julie Ditty and Viktoriya Kutuzova, who'd delivered an inspired set of doubles.

OVERALL SCORE: BUZZ 7, FREEDOMS 6

Third set: women's singles -- Viktoriya Kutuzova vs. Venus Williams

The second set's momentum shift carried into the third, with the quality of Venus Williams' game seeming to deteriorate by the minute. In the opening game of women's singles, Williams dumped an ugly second serve in the net for 15-15, netted a backhand for 15-30, and double faulted long for 15-40. That second double fault came courtesy of an overrule, much to the displeasure of Philadelphia coach Craig Kardon. Instant replay technology (which WTT coaches can use to challenge line calls) was not available on Wednesday night, so all Kardon could do was argue. "That's so bad," he fumed at the umpire. "Are you crazy? Do they have you in their back pocket or what?" Williams did battle back to 40-all, but lost the winner-take-all deciding point on a backhand error. The call was very close and very late, prompting another round of complaints from Kardon.

Kutuzova coughed up a pair of double faults in Game 2, but took the deciding point on Williams' latest forehand error. The ambitious young Ukrainian was more than holding her own in the baseline exchanges, keeping the ball in play and drawing errors from the five-time Grand Slam singles champion. Games went with serve to 4-2, putting Kutuzova on the verge of another unexpected win. Returning at 15-30, she laced a backhand winner down the line to earn set points. At 15-40, she confidently unleashed a pair of monstrous forehands. Williams got the first back, but her lunging reply to the second sailed long. Kutuzova had broken again, winning the set 5 games to 2.

"She just played well," Venus Williams said when asked later about her singles loss. "Normally 5-2 is just the beginning of a match. Points go quick here and she did well." Kutuzova expressed happiness with her own performance, but seemed fairly nonchalant about the achievement. "I just tried to do my best tonight and I did," she said. "I was really relaxed."

OVERALL SCORE: BUZZ 12, FREEDOMS 8

Fourth set: men's singles -- Scott Lipsky vs. Jaymon Crabb

The star attraction was done for the night, but the crowd stuck around to support the male members of the Buzz. Scott Lipsky's opponent was a familiar face: Aussie journeyman Jaymon Crabb, who'd played doubles exclusively as a member of the 2005 Buzz. Playing for the first time in nearly a year, "Crabby" needed some time to shake out the cobwebs. Despite the vocal support Crabb was getting from the Philadelphia bench, it was a pumped up Lipsky who broke serve in the opening game and raced out to a 3-1 lead.

Crabb held for 2-3, but Lipsky responded with a pair of aces in a love hold for 4-2. Gradually finding the range, Crabb got to 3-4 and had a real chance to force a tiebreak at 30-40. Lipsky rose to the occasion, though, blasting a pair of unreturnable serves to close out a 5-3 win. Clearly reveling in the atmosphere provided by a capacity crowd, Lipsky thrust his arms skyward in celebration. "He hasn't been playing that much anymore," Lipsky later said of Crabb, whom he'd never faced in singles before. "He doesn't really play, but I've been struggling, so I'll take any win I can get."

OVERALL SCORE: BUZZ 17, FREEDOMS 11

Fifth set: men's doubles -- Corkery/Lipsky vs. Crabb/Nestor

"I don't think this is gonna take very long," said an official who was getting ready to organize the post-match autograph session Venus Williams would hold for fans under age 17. She looked prophetic when K.C. Corkery and Scott Lipsky of the Buzz stormed out to a 3-0 lead over a scuffling Jaymon Crabb and a strangely listless Daniel Nestor. It was Lipsky who seemed to have all the energy, shouting "come on!" and playing to the crowd when his ace put the Buzz ahead by a 4-1 lead. The Freedoms now trailed by nine games in the overall score and nobody seemed much interested in a miraculous comeback. Eager children were lining up by the court's entrance gate. The beat writer from the Schenectady Gazette was anxiously hoping to meet his deadline. Williams herself was merrily enjoying a box of popcorn.

Then, all of a sudden, the momentum flipped. Nestor put a little more juice on his serve, holding at love for 2-4. Corkery choked away a chance to serve it out, broken at love for 4-3. Crabb's play remained erratic, though, and he was the one who would need to serve Philly into a tiebreak. Crabb double faulted to 15-30, dropped his racquet in disgust, and promptly missed an overhead for 15-40. On match point # 1, Crabb came up with a service winner. On match point # 2, Lipsky netted a backhand return. Game 8 would therefore come down to a single deciding point...and it was Crabb who won it, putting a smash out of Corkery's reach. To the chagrin of virtually everyone in attendance, it was tiebreak time...

SL serving: Lipsky uncorks an unreturnable serve -- 1-0 BUZZ

SL: An ace out wide from Lipsky -- 2-0 BUZZ

DN: Crabb deftly pops a volley into open space -- 2-1 BUZZ

DN: Lipsky runs down a drop shot; nearly hanging over the net, he then puts away a smash -- 3-1 BUZZ

KC: Nestor gets the mini-break back with a winning volley -- 3-2 BUZZ

KC: Corkery sends a volley wide -- 3-3

JC: Crabb double faults and takes an angry swipe at the court with his racquet -- 4-3 BUZZ

JC: On match point # 4, Nestor's high forehand volley wins a lively exchange -- 4-4

JC: Simultaneous match point/set point; Nestor angles off a clutch winning volley -- 5-4 FREEDOMS

OVERALL SCORE: BUZZ 21, FREEDOMS 16

So much for the match ending quickly. The Freedoms had worked their way into an overtime session, where Crabb and Nestor would still need to win five consecutive games to stay alive. They got off on the right foot, as Nestor held serve easily, making it Buzz 21, Freedoms 17. K.C. Corkery would get another opportunity to serve it out, but his opponent from Canada (by way of Yugoslavia) was fully engaged now. Nestor ripped a winning forehand for 15-all and placed a return at Corkery's feet for 30-all. Undeterred, Lipsky spanked a winning volley, shouting "yes!" as the Buzz got to match point for a sixth time. Crabb replied with a volley winner of his own. With match point # 7 on his racquet, Lipsky hit an overhead smash. Crabb got it back, but his reply was merely a weak lob. Corkery smashed that away, finally clinching the Buzz's first victory in eleven days.

FINAL SCORE: BUZZ 22, FREEDOMS 17

Unbowed by the loss, Venus Williams managed a big smile and a play on words. "They had all the buzz today, it seemed. All the balls were dropping in and they were getting all the calls. We tried to rally back at the end, but they were too good." Williams may not have played particularly well, but she'd been embraced by the racially diverse crowd and the feeling was mutual. "It's really, really exciting to come out here and the fans just appreciate it," said Williams. "Obviously they wanted the Buzz to win, but there was nothing but love for me. It was nice." Williams, who says she's playing World TeamTennis for the fun of it, will make two more appearances with the Freedoms before returning to the WTA Tour in San Diego.

Venus may have been the big draw for Schenectady tennis fans, but Scott Lipsky gave props to her Philadelphia teammates. "It's not just her. It's everyone. There are four players on their team who were number one in the world," said Lipsky, presumably counting doubles specialist Rennae Stubbs (who suited up for the Freedoms but didn't play). "We thought coming into the match that we'd have to play really, really well to be able to win and I think we did. We played unbelievable. Everyone played well, so we're really happy about it." It helped that Daniel Nestor's serve wasn't quite as effective as it had been when the Buzz met the Freedoms on a fast indoor court. "Yeah, indoors was tough," Lipsky agreed. "Really fast, everything sliding and skidding. Out here it's a little easier. I don't know if they were as sharp as they have been. Maybe they took us for granted a little bit."

Watching the heretofore underwhelming Buzz spring to life in front of a packed house was enough to make one wonder how the season might be playing out if the team enjoyed that kind of support more often. "Especially tonight, it was a lot of fun having it sold out," Lipsky says. "I wish everyone would come out and sell out every night, but I understand that Venus brings 'em out." A letdown could be inevitable, but Lipsky and company will try to avoid one when they host Anna-Lena Groenefeld, Jan-Michael Gambill, and the rest of the Houston Wranglers on Friday, July 21st.