—Submitted photo Fort dodge graduate brian murman celebrates with his Luther tennis teammates after the Norse defeated Coe in the American Rivers Conference tournament in Cedar Rapids on Saturday. The Norse were ranked and the Kohawks were the top-seed. Coe had won seven straight conference tournaments.

CEDAR RAPIDS — The Luther College men’s tennis team had its own version of a “court storming” on Saturday.

For the first time in eight years, the Norse captured the American Rivers Conference (formerly Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) title in the final round of the league’s annual tournament. Luther did so in emphatic fashion and ended seven-time defending champion Coe College’s long reign at the top in the process, 5-2.

Fort Dodge Senior High graduate Brian Murman helped turn the tide for the Norse with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Nate Ackert in singles competition against the Kohawks, who recently captured their eighth straight regular-season league crown after extending their in-conference win streak to 52 matches.

Luther also secured the A-R-C’s automatic NCAA Div. III national tournament berth — a first for the program during Murman’s four years of court time.

“It was very exciting,” said Murman, a senior who has a 15-9 singles record this season. “When it was (clinched), we all ran out on to the court, poured water on each other and celebrated.

“After three (previous) years of not being able to get over the hump (against Coe), it was great to come out and dominate the way we did. Going out like this (in the A-R-C) with my fellow seniors … it’s just a rewarding feeling to get some closure.”

Murman, who is graduating later this month, had struggled some in the past against Ackert. In their most recent match, Ackert escaped with a 6-7, 7-6, 7-5 triumph, which helped Coe secure a 5-4 victory over Luther en route to another regular-season championship.

“We came up just short, but we were getting closer,” said Murman, who added he wore a Dodger football ‘WTD’ shirt — short for “Win The Day,” a catch phrase from his senior year at FDSH — in preparation for Saturday’s action. “When we lost 5-4 to them, we talked as a team about how it was in our hands if we just played up to our potential.

“We’ve had some really strong seasons (recently), but we just couldn’t get past Coe until now.”

The Norse (18-6 overall) swept Central College, 5-0, to reach Saturday’s final round. Murman and teammate Ryan Ortega won at No. 2 doubles against the Dutch, 8-3.

Luther has now prevailed in five consecutive matches and eight of its last 10.

“I just came out on fire,” Murman said of his match against Ackert. “I got into a good rhythm. I actually (suffered a service break) in the first game, but I took a step back, turned the switches off and back on, and found a new gear.

“We played really well as a team. We knew we were right there — inches away — and it was a lot of fun to be able to break through against them when it mattered most.”

Luther will receive its official NCAA assignment — the sixth in program history — on Monday at 11 a.m.