With a narrow road defeat at the hands of the Boston Lobsters, the New York Buzz fell to 4-8, clinching a losing record for the fourth consecutive season. The visiting Hartford FoxForce came in with a slightly better 5-6 mark, but harbored no illusions of reaching the WTT playoffs. The teams' previous meeting was a 25-7 laugher in favor of Hartford. Therefore, I'll dispense with the usual pre-match buildup and pass along a semi-related tidbit. The CDPHP Tennis Complex in Schenectady, where the Buzz play their home matches, is located right next to an old baseball field. In all my years covering the team, I'd never stopped to read the sign outside said field. As it turns out, the site was once home to a Negro Leagues team named the Mohawk Giants. The field is now named in honor of Buck Ewing, a star for the Giants whom Hall of Fame pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander once referred to as "the greatest catcher I ever saw, black or white." I guess it goes to show there are little slices of history all around us. Sometimes you just have to stop and take a look around.

First set: mixed doubles -- Lipsky/Ditty vs. Dragicevic/Shaughnessy

Even when it comes to mixed doubles, Meghann Shaughnessy was the most accomplished player on the court -- she reached the semifinals in mixed at the 2001 Australian Open. With the set tied at two games apiece, Shaughnessy and partner Goran Dragicevic earned a 15-40 chance by playing both back against Scott Lipsky's big serve. Shaughnessy then got unlucky, breaking a string on a service return. Nevertheless, the break would be converted one point later on an errant volley by Julie Ditty. An easy hold by Dragicevic extended Hartford's lead to 4-2.

Shaughnessy teed off on a pair of winning returns in Game 7, earning a handful of set points against Ditty's serve. The Buzz battled back nicely, however, reeling off four straight points to hold for 3-4. Further establishing herself as the star of the set, Shaughnessy rocketed aces for 30-15 and 40-30. Once again, the FoxForce had multiple set points. Again, they would fail to cash in, as Lipsky ripped a winning return for deuce. Shaughnessy put in a good serve on the sudden death point, but Dragicevic pushed a volley long, losing the game and evening the set at 4. Making like another Goran you may remember, Dragicevic violently slammed his racquet to the court, earning a code violation warning before the tiebreak got underway...

SL serving: Lipsky opens with a service winner -- 1-0 BUZZ

SL: The sound guy punctuates Lipsky's ace with a snippet of AC/DC's "T.N.T." -- 2-0 BUZZ

GD: Ditty can't return Shaughnessy's smash -- 2-1 BUZZ

GD: Shaughnessy's forehand volley eludes Lipsky -- 2-2

JD: Clutch service winner by Ditty -- 3-2 BUZZ

JD: Dragicevic laces a winning backhand return up the line -- 3-3

MS: Lipsky lets out a groan after dumping a makeable smash in the net -- 4-3 FOXFORCE

MS: Shaughnessy finishes it out with an unreturnable serve -- 5-3 FOXFORCE

Hartford thereby ran its streak of head-to-head dominance over the Buzz to a sixth straight set. Things had gotten awfully close for comfort, though, after they failed to convert the first six set points. "We should have closed them out (earlier)," Meghann Shaughnessy said when asked about the rollercoaster mixed doubles event. Lipsky's big miss at 3-all in the 'breaker stood out as the turning point. "They had that chance with that overhead to finish out 5-4, so we were both a little bit lucky."

OVERALL SCORE: FOXFORCE 5, BUZZ 4

Second set: women's doubles -- Ditty/Kutuzova vs. McShea/Shaughnessy

After building a quick 2-0 lead in the women's doubles, Lisa McShea double faulted on a break point, narrowing the gap to 2-1. FoxForce coach (and former Buzz player) Don Johnson encouraged his squad to bounce right back, making a "break" motion with his hands. McShea and Meghann Shaughnessy obliged, breaking back for 3-1 (due in no small part to a pair of Viktoriya Kutuzova double faults). The only player unbroken to this point was Meghann Shaughnessy. The lanky veteran kept it that way, thumping an ace en route to a 4-1 Hartford lead.

The "Lady Buzz" trailed 4-1 in their previous home match, rallying to force a tiebreak against Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Bryanne Stewart. History repeated itself on Monday night. Ditty held at love for 2-4 and came up with some terrific volleys in breaking McShea for 3-4. Kutuzova's wayward serving (two more double faults in Game 8) nearly derailed the comeback, but the sudden death point saw Ditty knock off a winning forehand volley. For the second time in as many sets, Hartford and New York would have to settle matters in a tiebreak...

MS serving: Stretched wide, Kutuzova misses a forehand return -- 1-0 FOXFORCE

MS: McShea puts away a high forehand volley -- 2-0 FOXFORCE

JD: The FoxForce make some great lunging gets, but Ditty finally puts away a volley -- 2-1 FOXFORCE

JD: Shaughnessy's pop fly of a backhand return lands just wide -- 2-2

LM: McShea coughs up a double fault -- 3-2 BUZZ

LM: Ditty steers a backhand return down the line for a clean winner -- 4-2 BUZZ

VK: Kutuzova commits her fifth double fault of the set -- 4-3 BUZZ

VK: Nice rally ends on McShea's high backhand volley winner -- 4-4

VK: After a baseline war with Kutuzova, Shaughnessy rips a winning forehand past Ditty -- 5-4 FOXFORCE

In a set where serving was only an advantage if your name was Shaughnessy, the Buzz gave away three big set points. The Buzz remained very much in the overall match, but frustration had to be setting in.

OVERALL SCORE: FOXFORCE 10, BUZZ 8

Third set: women's singles -- Viktoriya Kutuzova vs. Meghann Shaughnessy

The previous head-to-head meetings between Viktoriya Kutuzova and Meghann Shaughnessy would not be to the home crowd's liking. Shaughnessy waxed the young Ukrainian 6-2, 6-2 two months ago in Prague, then put a 5-0 smackdown on her early in the Team Tennis season. Granted, that was before Kutuzova's recent confidence building WTT wins over Venus Williams and Anna-Lena Groenefeld. Kutuzova started promisingly enough here, opening up a 30-40 lead on Shaughnessy's serve in the first game of singles play. Shaughnessy shrugged off the break point with an ace, however, and then held for 1-0. With a 30-40 chance of her own in the following game, Shaughnessy made good, clocking a backhand winner and raising a clenched fist.

Really dialed in on her serve now, Meghann closed out Game 3 with an ace. The 5-0 whitewash she'd produced a couple weeks ago over Kutuzova looked as if it might be repeated. The former # 11 player in the world took Game 4 to a deciding point, but missed a volley, getting Kutuzova on the board at 1-3. There was little Kutuzova could do against Shaughnessy's serve, though, and two unreturnables helped Hartford's star to a 4-1 lead. Double faults were becoming an epidemic for Kutuzova -- she delivered two more in Game 6, opening the door for a set point. The ensuing really was a great cross-court slugfest, but Kutuzova sent a forehand wide to end it.

There's no question Viktoriya Kutuzova is a talented striker of the ball, but this 5-1 loss showed how much room for improvement she still has. Time and again, Kutuzova would rashly attempt to crack a winner when she would have been better off re-setting the point with a safe, defensive shot. Shaughnessy's steadier play and far better serving enabled her to record yet another lopsided win over the youngster. The matchup is clearly a good one for Meghann, but afterward she suggested there's nothing novel about it. "She plays like 90% of the other girls on the tour," Shaughnessy said of Kutuzova. "They just kinda go for their shots, hit flat, better backhand than forehand. I'm pretty used to that style."

OVERALL SCORE: FOXFORCE 15, BUZZ 9

Fourth set: men's singles -- Scott Lipsky vs. Glenn Weiner

"Lipsky's good, but he's a little heavy," I overheard a fan say during the intermission that followed set three. That does seem to be the book on Scott Lipsky, a two-time All-American at Stanford who won't be giving notorious practice court fanatic Meghann Shaughnessy a run for her money in the fitness department. His serve is his only real weapon and his relative lack of mobility has seen him post the second worst men's singles record in the league. (The worst winning percentage belongs to Pete Sampras, who maybe should have stayed on the golf course this summer). Opposing Lipsky on this occasion would be the journeyman's journeyman, Glenn Weiner. Still kicking around the minor leagues at age 30, Weiner is pretty non-descript, save for the spiky hairdo he's currently sporting. Even Lipsky himself couldn't resist coming over to pat his opponent on the head before the match.

The one saving grace Lipsky could count on all season abandoned him tonight. Lipsky couldn't seem to buy a first serve in the mixed doubles and he struggled just as mightily with it on the singles court. Weiner broke Lipsky at 15 along the way to a 3-0 lead. Lipsky had to fight off two more break points in Game 4, throwing his arms up in exasperated relief when a nice forehand got him to 1-3. Lipsky was on the board, but he never really got his teeth into the set. After running his lead to 4-2, 30-0, Weiner came up with a winning drop volley to earn set points. He closed it out from there, humiliating Lipsky with a second serve ace to win 5-2.

OVERALL SCORE: FOXFORCE 20, BUZZ 9

Fifth set: men's doubles -- Corkery/Lipsky vs. Dragicevic/Weiner

Hartford's eleven game lead rendered this final set little more than a formality, but it had its moments. Lipsky blew a 40-0 lead in the opening game, dropping serve when Dragicevic got a lucky winner to dribble off the tape. K.C. Corkery managed a hold for 1-2, then produced the highlight reel shot of the night. On the dead run, Corkery hit a low line drive forehand around the net post for a sick winner. Corkery broke out a big, Tiger Woods style fist pump and got a "nice shot" compliment from Hartford coach Don Johnson. Dragicevic recovered to hold serve, however. The FoxForce eventually built their lead to 4-2 and went up 15-40 against Corkery's serve. Dragicevic and Weiner couldn't put a return in play on either of the first two match points. On the third, they wouldn't have to -- Corkery double faulted long to put another 5-2 result in the books.

FINAL SCORE: FOXFORCE 25, BUZZ 11

For the second time this season, the Hartford FoxForce had dominated the New York Buzz, winning all five sets. This round was a bit closer...at least until Meghann Shaughnessy took all the wind out of the Buzz sails with a 5-1 dismissal of Viktoriya Kutuzova. "I felt like I played a solid match," Shaughnessy said of her singles performance. "When I had the short ball, I went for it." The late stages of 2005 and early part of 2006 saw Shaughnessy hit a horrendous skid on the WTA Tour. She lost 14 of 16 singles matches, even falling in the first round of a challenger. Her fortunes changed in April when she emerged from a tournament in Rabat, Morocco with her first singles title in three years. "It definitely helped my confidence. A title is always great," Shaughnessy said of the Rabat win. "I feel like I'm gonna have a good rest of the year."

Known as a temperamental introvert when she turned pro ten years ago, Shaughnessy has matured into a very poised 27-year-old who doesn't mind the noisy, rollicking atmosphere of World TeamTennis. "I think it's great for the sport. I hope that it continues to go in this direction to the Tour. Basketball and football and all these sports are so popular because people can go there and go with their buddies and they can drink and they can be loud and they can have fun. I think that's what more people want. The players need to just deal with it, get used to it." Shaughnessy's in her fifth WTT season (all with the FoxForce) and expects to return next summer. "I think it's just a really nice concept and I'm hoping to support it for the rest of my career." After finishing up this year's Team Tennis campaign, Shaughnessy will play US Open Series tournaments in San Diego and Los Angeles. "Then I have one week at home, which I'm very excited about."

As for the Buzz...well, better to just let them lick their wounds after this one. We'll bid the squad a proper farewell when they finish their season at home Tuesday night against up-and-comer Victoria Azarenka and her 8-4 Springfield Lasers.