By Nick Georgandis
Just when you thought the WTT playoff races couldn't get any crazier, Saturday night happened.
With all three scheduled matches decided by two points or less, the Washington Kastles put a vise lock on the Eastern Conference lead, the Texas Wild scored their biggest win of the season and the Philadelphia Freedoms continued their Lazarus-esque late season resurgence.
The Freedoms won their third straight match, upsetting Western Conference-leading Springfield 21-20 to forge a three-way tie for second place in the Eastern Conference with Boston and New York.
Philadelphia started the season with a 1-6 record, and was by far the worst team in WTT play.
But trailing Springfield 19-16 going to the women's doubles point on Saturday night, Philadelphia got a clutch 5-3 win from Liezel Huber and Victoria Duval to take a 21-20 victory and thrust itself directly into the playoff chase.
The Eastern Conference second seed could well come down to the last day of the regular season. Philadelphia hosts Boston on Tuesday and New York on Wednesday.
The loss trimmed Springfield's lead over Orange County and Texas back down to a half-game in the Western Conference. The Lasers are 6-4 and host New York on Sunday. Texas beat Orange County 20-18 in overtime on Saturday to move within half a game of the lead and prevent the Breakers from taking over sole possession of first place. Bob and Mike Bryan scored the winning point in mixed doubles for the Wild.
Meanwile, Washington rallied past New York 5-2 to up its lead in the Eastern Conference to four with four matches to go, all but sewing up the top spot.
The Kastles trailed 18-16 headed to men's doubles, but Rajeev Ram and Bobby Reynolds' clutch 5-2 win over Robert Kendrick and Jesse Witten gave Washington the victory, sending New York to its fourth straight defeat.
With just four nights to go before the playoffs, all eight teams in WTT are still alive for the post-season, and all four in the Western Conference, even 3-7 Sacramento, all still have a shot at the conference title.
Sunday's Matches
Sacramento at Orange County, 5 p.m.
Washington at Boston, 6 p.m.
Texas at Philadelphia, 7 p.m.
New York at Springfield, 7:05 p.m.