PHOENIX—Idaho women's tennis staked claim to its fifth consecutive conference championship on Saturday. The Vandals defeated top-seeded Northern Arizona, 4-2, for their fourth straight Big Sky title. 

Idaho has won the Big Sky's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament in each of the four seasons since rejoining the conference. The Vandals won the Western Athletic Conference in its final year in 2014. 

"The girls did a fantastic job of fighting back," head coach Babar Akbar said following the win. "We went down 1-0 after doubles. I think our veterans stepped up and motived the rest of the team. In singles, we fought hard and competed on every court."

Northern Arizona jumped out to the early lead with the doubles win. The Vandals entered singles play, needing to win four of the six singles courts to continue their reign over the Big Sky. 

Junior Marianna Petrei, the No. 32 player in the ITA, stepped up first for Idaho. She went unscathed at the No. 1 position, sweeping Hanneke Lodewijks, 6-0, 6-0, to tie the match. Senior Lucia Badillos handed Idaho the 2-1 lead with her 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 3. 

NAU evened up the match, claiming its first singles win at No. 2. Moments later Idaho regained the lead, 3-2, thanks to Maggie Chen. She was able to score a 6-2, 6-4 win at No. 6 to put Idaho one point from clinching with two courts still in play. 

There was a race to the finish between courts No. 4 and No. 5. Freshman Laura Spataro and NAU's Ellie Millard were in the midst of a three-set battle, while Shion Watabe was battling to stay alive at No. 5 against NAU's Madi Moore.

Moore picked up the first set in a drawn out 7-5 win over Watabe. The Idaho sophomore played to a 5-5 tie while at the same time Spataro had a 5-3 lead in the third set at No. 4. It was Spataro first to the finish recording a 6-4 win in the third set to give Idaho the championship. 

"The credit goes to all seven of our players," Akbar added. "It has been a fantastic week. Our team is tough and they keep showing that they want to win more than anything else."

Idaho will learn its destination for the first round of the NCAA Tournament during the NCAA's selection show on Tuesday, May 1 (2 p.m. PT).