BOISE, Idaho - The No. 57 Idaho men's tennis team got the Boise State Spring Break Tournament started off on the right foot on Friday, opening up with a 5-1 win over Marquette, then beating Saint Mary's 4-2 to advance to the finals of the eight-team tournament.

"Today was a very early morning against a very strong team," Idaho coach Jeff Beaman said of the Vandals' 8 a.m. match against Marquette. "We competed well and it is great to get a first round win in this tournament."

Idaho got straight-set wins at the top five singles spots to clinch the match victory, with No. 112 Marius Cirstea winning 6-2; 7-5 at No. 1, Lachlan Reed winning 6-2; 6-4 at No. 2, Alex Joitoiu winning 6-3; 6-3 at No. 3, Abid Akbar winning 6-3; 6-4 at No. 4 and Jose Bendeck winning 6-4; 6-3 at No. 5. Only Alan Shin fell in singles play for the Vandals, losing 7-6; 6-1 at No. 6. With the match already decided after the singles competition, no doubles matches were played.

Later in the day, Idaho got its 4-2 win over Saint Mary's by winning the top two and bottom two singles matches against the Gaels. Cirstea win a tight match at No. 1 singles, 7-6 (7-4); 7-6 (7-3), and Reed won again at No. 2 singles, 6-3; 6-4.

Joitoiu retired in the third set of his No. 3 singles match, and Akbar fell 6-1; 6-1 at No. 4 singles. But Bendeck and Shin won tight matches at No. 5 and 6 singles to propel the Vandals to the finals on Saturday.

“It is great to make the finals of the BSU tournament for the second year in a row,” Beaman said. “Saint Mary's was a very tough match, they have been ranked as high as No. 56 in the nation and I felt our guys competed well today. It was great to see Alan get back on track with his singles match today.”

The wins lift Idaho to 14-2 on the season and extend Vandal's winning streak to seven. With two wins at No. 2 singles, Reed improved to 14-1 in singles this season.

Idaho will play in the finals on Saturday at 6 p.m. against the winner of Boise State's match against Wichita State.