With her Falcons trailing host Riverside 18-16 in the fourth game of the fourth round of the NCHSAA 4A volleyball playoffs, Vucich recorded five kills in her team's next six points, and Green Hope led again, 22-19.

But Green Hope's strength, as evidenced time and again this postseason, isn't limited to only what the 6-foot-4 Duke recruit can do when receiving a perfect pass from setter Kaitlin Quinn, a Campbell recruit. It's that any of the Falcons players can contribute to their team's kills or all-around defense.

Green Hope held on to win the fourth game, getting their final three points from Jordan Feuerhelm (eight kills), Caroline Neideffer and Madison Brown (10 kills). The Falcons defeated Riverside in four games -- 21-25, 25-22, 25-19 and 25-23 -- and will play Tuesday in the East regional final at Wilmington Hoggard.

"We so much more complete than we were in day one," Vucich said. "We all contribute to each other's success."

Vucich led all players with 26 kills in the match, no easy feat when considering Riverside boats two middle blockers standings 6 feet 2 inches or taller. But the senior was almost always attacking from a different angle with every kill, not allowing the Pirates to get comfortable in how to defend her.

"Green Hope applies a constant pressure. And if you're not ready for that pressure, you'll fold under that pressure," Riverside coach Michael Hodge said. "At times we responded well, and at times we didn't respond well. Normally we're a pretty good ball control team, but they kept us out of system a lot. As a result, we were forced to settle with the outsides and we couldn't run stuff in the middle."

Green Hope coach Karl Redelfs also credited his libero Riley Dixon for organizing the back row defense against a hard-hitting Riverside team. While the Pirates' Olivia Williams had 23 kills and Kiara Speer added 17, they weren't as frequent as Riverside would have liked.

"They're a little different than other teams, they hit it a lot deeper," Dixon said. "We just had to make sure we adjusted and stayed deep."

In front of a loud Riverside crowd, the Falcons and Pirates traded leads nine times in the final game. Led by the passing of Quinn, the Falcons were able to mix up their sets and run plays for a number of contributors.

The more players that got involved, the more the Green Hope fed off one another.

"We like the atmosphere of having all the fans," Vucich said. "Even if they're not rooting for us, the energy just helps us build our own energy."

Green Hope's goal before the year began was to win the state championship. The balanced Falcons' attack is now just two wins away from doing just that.

"Now it's just us not to get a big head, play our game and keep our intensity," Dixon said. "Because we want to win it all."