DC native Treat Huey has won 5 of 6 sets so far as a Washington Kastle. (Photo taken Tuesday by Rich Kessler)

Five nights after routing them in historic fashion, the Washington Kastles got all they could handle from the Kansas City Explorers on the road Friday night in a match full of pressure-filled deciding points.

But every test that the Kastles have faced since July 22, 2010, they've passed with flying red-and-blue.

Washington won its 29th consecutive match 22-17 over the Explorers to come within one victory of an improbable second consecutive perfect regular season.

Having earned its most lopsided victory in franchise history 25-8 over Kansas City (4-9) on Sunday, Washington (13-0) won pivotal points in the final three sets to break away from the Explorers on Friday.

World TeamTennis' No. 1-ranked men's singles player Bobby Reynolds gave the Kastles a 5-1 lead after one set before the Explorers rallied with a 5-2 victory in women's doubles by winning all four 3-all points in that set.

That's when the newest Kastles took control of the match, earning their colors with each passing set.

In the mixed doubles, Treat Huey and Raquel Kops-Jones saved four set points to prevent the Explorers from tying the score after three sets. Instead, the Kastles maintained a crucial two-game lead by winning the set on a deciding 4-4 point in the tiebreaker.  

Edina Gallovits-Hall went on to increase Washington's lead to 17-13 by defeating top-ranked women's singles player Chanel Simmonds of Kansas City 5-3.

Reynolds' veteran leadership and Huey's fearlessness allowed Washington to close things out in men's doubles as the Kastles clinched the winner-take-all final point of a tiebreaker.

The Kastles' final regular season match is tonight at 8:05 pm against the Springfield Lasers (4-9).  

Following a hiatus for The Olympic Games and US Open, Washington will meet the New York Sportimes in the Eastern Conference Championship match on September 15th in Charleston, S.C. New York (8-5) qualified for the WTT playoffs on Friday with a 22-16 win over Springfield.

MS - Reynolds (WAS) def. Qureshi (KCE) 5-1

In their first meeting this season, Washington won men's singles 5-0, prompting Explorers' coach Brent Haygarth to bench Nick Monroe in favor of World No. 12 doubles player Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi.

But Qureshi was unable to mount any resistance against the in-form Kastles' closer. Reynolds' experience grinding away in long rallies proved more valuable than Qureshi's specialty of serving-and-volleying.

After Qureshi held in the first game of the set, Reynolds raced away with the next five, breaking Qureshi in each of his next two service games on 3-all deciding points.

Reynolds hit a screaming down-the-line backhand passing shot for 2-1, benefited from a Qureshi double fault for 4-1, and then served the set out with an ace.

A winner in 20 of 24 games over his last four singles sets, Reynolds is now immersed in a competition with teammate Leander Paes for the WTT Male MVP award.

Washington leads 5-1.

WD - Luzhanska/Simmonds (KCE) def. Gallovits-Hall/Kops-Jones (WAS) 5-2

After winning two 3-all points in men's singles, fortunes were reversed for the Kastles in women's doubles. The Explorers' Simmonds and Tetiana Luzhanska captured each of the first four games that they won on deciding points.

Luzhanska in particular shined throughout the set, giving her team a 3-1 lead with a down-the-line passing shot winner, and increasing it to 4-2 two games later with a volley winner.

By breaking Gallovits-Hall for a second time, the Explorers cut the Kastles' advantage to one.

Washington leads 8-7. 

Raquel Kops-Jones saved three set points on her serve in mixed doubles. (Photo taken Tuesday by Rich Kessler)

MXD - Huey/Kops-Jones (WAS) def. Qureshi/Luzhanska (KCE) 5-4(4)

The Kastles made the first mark in mixed doubles by breaking Luzhanska on a 3-all point for 2-1, following a sharply-angled volley by Kops-Jones with a drop volley winner by Huey.

Serves were held from that point until another 3-all deciding point to decide whether the Explorers could force a tiebreak or the Kastles could win the set outright.

With Kops-Jones serving at 4-3, 3-all, Luzhanska's stellar play continued as the new American citizen hit a hard return that forced a volley error by Kops-Jones.

Another powerful Luzhanska return, this time a winner off Huey's serve, gave Kansas City a 3-1 lead in the tiebreaker. The Explorers would win the next point to make it 4-1, giving them four consecutive set points.

But Washington saved them all, the last three on Kops-Jones' serve and the final two on unreturnable serves by the World No. 19 women's doubles player.

If the Explorers had won the tiebreaker, they would have tied the match score through three sets.

Washington leads 13-11.

WS - Gallovits-Hall (WAS) def. Simmonds (KCE) 5-3

Having let a 3-0 lead in the first game slip away on her serve, Gallovits-Hall got off to a nightmarish start against Simmonds, the No. 1-ranked women's singles player in the lead.

But steady play and strong forehands allowed Gallovits-Hall to break back immediately. While she protected her serve from there, the new Kastle patiently waited for another opportunity to break her left-handed opponent.

It finally came on a 3-all point with Gallovits-Hall leading 4-3. Had Simmonds won that point on her serve, and then a tiebreaker, Kansas City would have cut the score to 16-15.

But a deep forehand by Gallovits-Hall forced Simmonds into shanking a ball, giving Washington a crucial 5-3 win and a four-game lead in the match.

Washington leads 17-13.

MD - Huey/Reynolds (WAS) def. Monroe/Qureshi (KCE) 5-4(4)

All four players in men's doubles held serve to 2-2 before the Kastles began getting looks at breaking the Explorers.

After a big return from Reynolds, Qureshi won a 3-all point for 3-2 with an ace. Two games later, the Kastles opened up a 2-0 lead on Monroe's serve following a pair of winners by Reynolds. But Huey's attempt at an around-the-net shot hit the post after an extended exchange of angled volleys, and the Explorers rallied for another hold and a 4-3 lead.

In the next game, it was Huey's turn to come through in the clutch, winning a 3-all point and forcing a tiebreaker with a kick second serve that drew a Monroe error.

As in mixed doubles, the men's doubles tiebreaker came down to the winner-take-all 4-4 point. Huey improved his set record with the Kastles to 5-1 by blasting a big serve that drew a short return from Qureshi, allowing Reynolds to put away an easy volley for a winner.

The final scoreboard showed that the Kastles won by five games. But three points in particular were the difference between Washington's 29th straight victory and a stunning loss. The 4-4 tiebreaker points in mixed and men's doubles, as well as a 3-all point in the final game of women's singles, all went Washington's way.

Had they not, the Kastles could have finished with three fewer games on the scoreboard and the Explorers would have had at least three more.

If the clutch Kastles can come away with a few more important points against Springfield tonight, they will conclude a second straight unbelievable, undefeated season.

Washington wins 22-17.

Edina Gallovits-Hall won crucial fourth sets in singles on Tuesday and Friday. (Photo taken Tuesday by Rich Kessler)