Prior to the New York Buzz's season-ending match against the Springfield Lasers, volunteers removed a few chairs from team owner/general manager Nitty Singh's official courtside box. It was just as well, since Singh never really gave this year's low-wattage roster the kind of visible, vocal support she provided in previous years. Nitty sightings were about as rare as Buzz victories in 2006. Neither end of that equation necessarily portends doom for the franchise, though. Thanks to the sellout crowd Venus Williams drew midway through the season, the team (which fell into financial disarray last year) may have actually generated enough revenue to finish 2006 in the black. Singh is now expressing optimism for the future, including the possibility of signing a marquee player for the '07 season.

Despite limping in with a 4-9 record, Buzz players looked loose and relaxed before their season finale. Goofing around on court prior to the introductions, Julie Ditty showed off an ability to catch balls in her pocket and Scott Lipsky headed one like a soccer star. Meanwhile, the visiting Lasers -- whose 8-4 record was already good enough for a berth in the World TeamTennis playoffs -- were having fun of their own. Alex Vlaski, Nick Monroe, and Victoria Azarenka whipped themselves into near fits of hysterics with exaggerated impersonations of each other's service return stances. The Lasers may not be as imposing without Anastasia Myskina (who starred for them on a part-time basis early in the season), but they certainly appear to have winning team chemistry.

First set: mixed doubles -- Lipsky/Ditty vs. Vlaski/Vanc

The southpaws shall inherit the earth? Scott Lipsky was the only right-hander to take the court in the evening's curtain-raiser. He and partner Julie Ditty would generally get the better of their exchanges with Aleksandr Vlaski and Andreea Vanc, but the Lasers stayed on serve all the way to 3-4. At 30-30 in Game 8, a good deep return by Ditty drew a Vanc error, giving the Buzz their first set point. Vlaski saved it by hitting Ditty with a smash (and courteously raised his hand in apology). Springfield still needed to win the game's sudden death deuce point to force a tiebreak, however, and they were not up to the task. Vanc rather meekly sent a backhand into the net to give New York a 5-3 win in the mixed.

OVERALL SCORE: BUZZ 5, LASERS 3

Second set: women's doubles -- Ditty/Kutuzova vs. Azarenka/Vanc

Tall, thin, strong off both sides, and still a week shy of her 17th birthday, Victoria Azarenka shows every sign of being a rising star in women's tennis. Having already collected five Grand Slam titles (two singles; three doubles) in her juniors career, Azarenka is quickly making her mark on the pro tour. Earlier this month, she broke into the Top 100 on the WTA Tour computer for the first time. Best of all, Azarenka credits fellow Belarussian Olga Barabanschikova as an early mentor. We here at On The Line remember Olga fondly and wish her all the best in the music career she's embarked on in her native land.

At 1-1, 30-30, Azarenka got the better of fellow teenager Viktoriya Kutuzova, sliding an ace away from her. Azarenka followed with a double fault, though, and dropped her racquet in disgust after her backhand error allowed the Lady Buzz to break for 2-1. Julie Ditty -- who has arguably been the most solid member of the Buzz this summer -- uncharacteristically gagged on a couple volleys in the very next game, allowing Kutuzova to be broken for 2-2. With two teenagers on the court, I suppose it was fitting for this relatively sloppy set to resemble something out a juniors tournament. The next few games did go with serve, though, as Springfield pulled ahead by a 4-3 count. Serving to force a tiebreak, Kutuzova camped out on the baseline and committed three groundstroke errors on the way to a 30-40 deficit. Capitalizing on her team's first set point, Azarenka blasted a backhand winner to clinch a 5-3 win.

OVERALL SCORE: BUZZ 8, LASERS 8

Third set: women's singles -- Viktoriya Kutuzova vs. Andreea Vanc

The all-prospect matchup one might have anticipated here fell through when Lasers coach Trevor "Tank" Kronemann opted to give 32-year-old Andreea Vanc the call over Victoria Azarenka (even though Vanc hasn't played singles on the Tour in months). Fortunately for Vanc, she would be in against an ailing opponent. Suffering from a rib injury that she had iced during the match, Kutuzova was having all kinds of problems with her forehand. Kutuzova bravely soldiered on, though, and more or less dictated play against the Italian lefty. After saving three break points in Game 5, Vanc tossed in a double fault, losing her serve and falling behind 2-3.

After Kutuzova opened Game 6 with a forehand winner, Kronemann decided he'd seen enough. Substitutions are allowed in Team Tennis (though you'd never know it from Buzz coach Jolene Watanabe's laissez-faire approach), so Azarenka was able to take the court in singles after all. Switching players mid-set can be a good momentum changer, but in this case it only served to inspire Kutuzova. She closed out the game at love, getting a big ovation when her swinging volley winner made it 4-2 Buzz. Suitably warmed up now, Azarenka engaged Kutuzova in some ferocious, deep-hitting rallies in Game 7. It was the highest quality tennis of the night and Kutuzova handled it like a champ. A thrilling exchange on set point ended with Azarenka netting a backhand and losing the set 5-2.

After the match, Kutuzova denied having any extra motivation against a fellow up-and-comer. "I don't really care who is on the other side of the court. I just try to do my job." That she'd done her job despite being less than 100% was admirable. "Because I pulled my rib, I feel a little bit stressful, like stress. I can't really serve in my doubles and I can't really hit my forehand." Fortunately, Viktoriya will have some time to heal, as a $75k challenger event in Washington, D.C. is the only tennis left on her schedule before the U.S. Open.

OVERALL SCORE: BUZZ 13, LASERS 10

Fourth set: men's singles -- Scott Lipsky vs. Nick Monroe

The intermission that always follows the third set of Buzz home matches is a fine time for fans to hit the refreshments stand, visit the restrooms, or vie for the free team merchandise that goes sailing into the stands. Nick Monroe, on the other hand, did some stretching in front of the players' trailer before returning to the court to warm up. By the time the fourth set got underway, Monroe was in full flight, bouncing around on his toes and slapping winners all over the court. In virtually no time flat, Monroe tied up the overall match score by holding at 15, breaking at 15, and holding again at 15.

Monroe, a 24-year-old who cites Arthur Ashe as his role model, continued to draw oohs and ahhs with his flashy play. Down 30-15 in Game 4, he ran down a pretty good drop shot and slid a winning backhand past Scott Lipsky. Two points later, Lipsky lost a baseline battle on a backhand error, dropping serve for a second time as Monroe went up 4-0. If Buzz coach Jolene Watanabe were ever to employ her substitution power and give K.C. Corkery a shot in singles, this would have been the time. Lipsky stayed in, though, and took advantage of two Monroe double faults to break for 1-4.

After looking like the second coming of James Blake for four games, Monroe's game came crashing back to reality. Lipsky was there to reap the benefits. He finally served well, holding at 30 to make it 2-4. Monroe opened Game 7 with an ace, but dropped the next four points to surrender a second consecutive break. Up 30-15 in Game 8, Lipsky blasted two service winners in a row. From 4-0 down, he'd gotten all the way back to 4-4 and forced a tiebreak...

NM serving: Lipsky's forehand sails wide -- 1-0 LASERS

NM: Monroe badly air mails a forehand -- 1-1

SL: Lipsky gets away with a long second serve, but still loses the point on a backhand error -- 2-1 LASERS

SL: This time Monroe is the one who misses a backhand -- 2-2

NM: Lipsky takes a big rip at a forehand return...and nets it -- 3-2 LASERS

NM: Monroe rifles an ace down the T -- 4-2 LASERS

SL: Monroe's return of a high kicking second serve is good for a clean backhand winner -- 5-2 LASERS

After the match, Scott Lipsky reflected on the roller coaster ride Monroe took him on in singles. "I know he wasn't as good as those (first) four games. He wasn't as bad as the last four games. I know Nick well, I've played him a lot, so I kinda knew what to expect, but he played really well at the beginning." Was Lipsky worried that he might be given the hook mid-set in favor of teammate K.C. Corkery? "I'm always worried about that, because I haven't really played well all year, but I fought back and at least made it respectable."

OVERALL SCORE: BUZZ 17, LASERS 15

Fifth set: men's doubles -- Corkery/Lipsky vs. Monroe/Vlaski

Scott Lipsky took his revenge on Nick Monroe early in the doubles. After comfortably holding to 1-0, Lipsky put a nice return at Monroe's feet on a deciding point to break for 2-0. After a line call went against the Buzz early in Game 3, Lipsky blew up at the umpire. "No chance that ball was out. No chance," he insisted. Getting an unsatisfactory response, Lipsky pleaded, "What are you doing then? How slow does the ball have to be going?" After the dust settled, Game 3 went to a deciding point. The rally that followed was a wild one. Monroe went up for an overhead, but pulled the racquet away at the last second. His partner Alex Vlaski kept the point alive and eventually won it with a sizzling forehand pass. Somewhere in the middle of all that, Lipsky thought another call went against his team.

After expressing their continuing dissatisfaction to the umpire, Lipsky and K.C. Corkery channeled their anger into some inspired play, breaking Vlaski for a 3-1 lead. The Lasers, meanwhile, still had some fight left. When Game 5 went to deuce, Victoria Azarenka and Andreea Vanc started enthusiastically waving their towels around. Lipsky quieted them with a service winner, holding for 4-1. Still steamed at the umpire, Lipsky sarcastically muttered "thank you" when a Vlaski volley was called out, taking Game 6 to deuce. Suddenly the Buzz had a match point...and Lipsky was all over it. He smacked a return down the middle, forcing Monroe to lunge and block a volley into the net. With an emphatic 5-1 triumph in men's doubles, the Buzz ended their season on a winning note.

FINAL SCORE: BUZZ 22, LASERS 16

A second consecutive 5-9 record was nothing for the New York Buzz to write home about, but the upstate fans gave their plucky squad a fairly rousing sendoff. Viktoriya Kutuzova and Scott Lipsky each fielded a slew of requests to sign autographs and pose for pictures before I was able to grab them for post-match interviews. "Actually, I'm not sure we expected (to win)," Kutuzova admitted. "Everybody played pretty well tonight, so we just did better than this team. It doesn't really matter if they are in playoffs or not. Every day is different." For his part, Lipsky said, "It's good to end the season with a win. We started the season with a win, too, so just gotta work on the middle."

It wasn't all sunshine and light for Lipsky, who lost his cool over some questionable officiating in the final set. Scott told me it was "basically, a combination of repeatedly match to match, there were a lot of missed calls out here. It doesn't really affect the outcome, but it just gets frustrating after a while." On the whole, however, Lipsky's first foray into the wacky world of Team Tennis was an enjoyable one. "It was fun. I mean, it was a good experience my first year doing it. A lot of travel and a lot of late nights, but it was fun."