In a match which featured a pre-match tennis clinic by Hall of Famer Tracy Austin, Pastikova, making her second start of the year in women's singles so teammate Lauren Albanese could rest her taped-up right ankle, beat Kansas City's Jarmila Gajdosova, 5-3.
"I thought I could play singles tonight because Lauren has the problem with her ankle," Pastikova said. "I was prepared and I'm happy … [Gajdosova] is a really good player. I know her pretty good, because she's from Slovak Republic and I'm from the Czech Republic."
Pastikova also teamed with Albanese for a 5-3 win over Gajdosova and Corina Morariu in women's doubles, and then teamed with Rick Leach for a mixed doubles win by the same 5-3 score.
"I'm really happy we won the whole match tonight and that I could make three wins," Pastikova said. "It was my second singles match that I played, but the first one was really bad; I didn't feel comfortable. Here, I was really comfortable."
Those three sets helped Newport Beach (3-5) to a 15-9 lead that the Breakers wouldn't relinquish, sending the Explorers (6-2) to their second consecutive loss.
Kansas City opened the season with six straight wins.
"Michaela came up big tonight," Breakers Coach Trevor Kronemann said. "She got us a six-game lead; she was plus-six tonight. She had a good practice this morning. We told her 'You have to stay positive and things will happen,' and she was solid all the way through."
The Breakers also keep their dim playoff hopes alive, pulling within three games of Kansas City for the second spot in World Team Tennis' Western Conference. The top two teams in each conference make the playoffs.
