MILWAUKIE — In the fifth and deciding set on Thursday night, Madras clung to a 14-11 lead and was poised for match point.

La Salle called a timeout, and White Buffaloes coach Rhea Cardwell addressed her squad. She had the Buffs visualize the final point. Then, Cardwell called her shot.

She approached Elle Renault, who was about to toe the service line, and told the junior that she was about to pick up an ace.

After a deep breath, Renault delivered a “rocket over the net,” as described by Cardwell. The Falcons could not handle the serve. It sailed out of bounds, and the Buffs escaped with a 20-25, 25-17, 13-25, 28-26, 15-11 Tri-Valley Conference volleyball win, securing Madras’ first outright league title since joining the TVC in 2010.

“You always want the league championship to be intense,” Cardwell said. “But in truth, no. What you want is your team to play consistently 100 percent of the time and not have those moments.

“But I’ll tell you what,” the first-year Madras coach continued, “from the beginning of the year to now, we’ve been taking fast strides in the right direction in terms of mental toughness.”

“If that was a game at the beginning of the season, we probably would have lost in three (sets),” Cardwell added.

Shelby Mauritson and Alexis Urbach, the Buffs’ go-to hitters all season, combined for 55 kills and 40 digs in the win over the Falcons (7-2 TVC), who trailed Madras (9-0) by one game heading into the contest.

“Both those players have such great control of the ball,” Cardwell said, adding that she was able to point out where Mauritson and Urbach should direct their hits. “You can kind of play them like a Nintendo game.”

Keely Brown registered 22 digs for the White Buffaloes, Taylor Sjolund had 19 digs, Renault finished with 37 assists, and Karlee Simmons was credited with 20 assists.

“Our team was just all over the court defensively,” Cardwell said. She noted that while the offense shined on Thursday night, “defense is what won it for us. They just really stepped it up.”