FRESNO, Calif. – Carlos Pinedo fell in the winner's bracket semifinals, but both Andy Caruana and Ava Neuburger-Higby won the consolation draws Saturday as MSU Denver finished its stay at the ITA West Regional Tennis Tournament.
 
Caruana defeated Jasdeep Pintal of Point Loma (Calif.) 2-6, 7-6, 1-0 (10-5) in the men's consolation final, while Neuburger-Higby was a 6-2, 6-4 winner against Maya Arksey of Concordia-Irvine (Calif.).
 
"They both took out the back draw," MSU Denver coach Josh Graetz said. "I'm proud of both of them for getting it done."
 
The consolation bracket is comprised of the 32 players who lost first-round matches in their respective 64-player tournaments.
 
Pinedo, the eighth seed, was knocked off in the semifinals by Sebastian Herrera of Biola (Calif.) 6-3, 6-1. Herrera went on to win the championship.
 
"His opponent played better," Graetz said. "He maybe didn't match up quite as well to him. But credit to (Herrera). He won the tournament.
 
"Carlos had a great tournament, and I don't think he played his best tennis. He can only improve."
 
MSU Denver, represented by five men and four women, had a number of solid showings during three days of competition.
 
"I'm glad we went," Graetz said. "We got better. I'm excited to get back to practice again, and I'm excited to have the whole team back together again."