Four different Falcons finished with five or more kills, as Green Hope attacked Leesville Road from all sides in its 25-9, 25-19, 25-20 sweep in the third round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association 4A playoffs.

Green Hope, returning to the fourth round of the postseason for the first time since 2008, will travel to Riverside on Saturday.

"We have the hitters to kill balls, and so I encourage them to be more aggressive," said Green Hope coach Karl Redelfs. "The past three or four games, all our hitters have been stepping up... It gives us a lot of options on the front row."

Duke recruit Christina Vucich led Green Hope in kills with 12.

"Lately we've been focusing on making our games more of a complete team effort," she said. "Whether it's passing or energy from the bench, we're all trying to contribute as best we can. And it's working. We're getting more confident with every match."

Getting a high number of kills from Vucich, a four-year varsity player, isn't unusual. But getting an additional 20 from Quinn, Jordan Feuerhelm and Madison Brown -- with Feuerhelm's 10 leading those three -- was more than enough for Green Hope (23-1) to advance with ease.

"The playoffs are definitely making me step up my game and try to play harder for my team so we can get to states," Feuerhelm said, echoing a shared sentiment among her teammates.

The state championship has been on the minds of the Falcon players for quite some time.

"On the first day of practice we set the goal of being a state championship team because we thought we could attain it then, and we think we can now," Vucich said.

Leesville Road, playing without junior libero Kati Stammen, had trouble defending Green Hope's different options.

"When you get in this kind of game, you've got to play good. Whoever wins at the end of the season is not necessarily just the best team but they are the on who is playing the best," said Leesville Road coach Taine Mergenthaler. "(The Falcons) were more consistent than us. They don't let the silly stuff happen."

Mergenthaler's team ended its season 19-7 overall. The Pride graduate just one senior, Alex Woods, from this year's group that did a 180 from last year's results.

"We went a long way, going from 4-15 (in 2010) to one of the last 16 teams left," he said. "They should be proud of that."