Smash hammer Breakers

Playing for the second straight day without Maria Sharapova, the

Breakers lost for the second straight time Wednesday, dropping a

lopsided 24-10 match to the Delaware Smash at DuPont Country Club in

Wilmington, Del.

The consecutive losses come after the Breakers had strung together

a five-match winning streak to move into first place in the Western

Conference. With just two matches remaining, Newport Beach (6-6) is a

half-match behind Springfield (6-5). The Breakers close the season

with home matches Friday and Saturday against Kansas City (4-7) and

Philadelphia (4-8).

Those two opponents should make things easier for Newport Beach,

which had more than it could handle against the Eastern

Conference-leading Smash (10-1).

Newport Beach’s only set win came in men’s doubles, where Brian

MacPhie and Josh Eagle combined to defeat Paul Goldstein and Scott

Humphries in a tiebreaker, 5-4. In the other four sets, the Breakers

won just five games combined.

Jewel Peterson, who replaced Sharapova for the second night in a

row, played women’s doubles with Eva Dyrberg and was shut out, 5-0.

Women’s singles, usually an asset for the Breakers with Sharapova,

was lost by Dyrberg, 5-2.

Brian MacPhie lost, 5-2, in men’s singles and Eagle and Dyrberg

fell, 5-1, in mixed doubles.