PHOENIX—Idaho women's tennis booked a trip to its fifth consecutive conference championship match on Friday. The Vandals will have a shot at its fourth straight Big Sky crown on Saturday after sending Southern Utah home, 4-1.

Idaho, the No. 2 seed in the tournament, will defend its Big Sky reign against No. 1 Northern Arizona with a trip to the NCAA Tournament on the line. It will be the third straight year the Vandals and Lumberjacks have played in the final. Idaho has the upper hand in previous three championship matches, but NAU won by a slim 4-3 margin back in March. It was Idaho's only conference loss of the season.

The Vandals started the morning with a quick burst in doubles. Maggie Chen and her partner Marta Magalhães opened the scoring for the Vandals. The Idaho pair went 6-2 over Southern Utah at No. 3 Marianna Petrei and Maria Tavares closed the point in similar fashion, cruising to a 6-1 win at No. 1.

Petrei, the No. 32 ranked player in the ITA, stepped up for Idaho in singles. She had zero problems at the No. 1 position. The Idaho junior secured the Vandals' second point of the morning, doing away with SUU's Ghita Nassik in straight sets (6-2, 6-2).

Sophomore Shion Watabe moved Idaho one step closer to advancing. She put away Alexandra Ngo 6-3 in the first set and shutout SUU's No. 5 in the second, 6-0.

The remaining courts were all tightly contested. Southern Utah picked up a point at No. 3, cutting the Idaho lead to 3-1. Zoe Tanti recorded a 6-4 win over Lucia Badillos in the first set. Badillos battled back in the second, keeping the score within one game. Tanti broke through late to take the set 7-5.

No. 4 proved to be the clincher for the Vandals. Freshman Laura Spataro recorded her 14th win of the season to send Idaho into the championship. She picked apart Charity Sagiao, 6-3, 6-2, closing out the day for Idaho.

Idaho has advanced to the NCAA Tournament in each of the last five seasons. The Vandals run started with a Western Athletic Conference title in 2014. The Vandals joined the Big Sky the following season and have gone on to win the last three conference championships.

Saturday's championship match is set for 9 a.m. PT.