ROBERTSDALE, Ala. – "Go hard or go home." That's what Daphne coach Edoli Herrion told her team all year.

Tuesday, the Lady Trojans went hard enough to claim the 6A Area 3 title over defending area champion and No. 9-ranked Robertsdale 25-17, 25-22, 25-23. Earlier in semifinal action, Daphne went four games with Fairhope while Robertsdale topped Foley in three.

"I'm really proud of how we played tonight," Herrion said. "That's the first time we have beat them (Robertsdale) all year. They came in here and refused to let the past repeat itself. We played defense and served well and never quit. That's key to success for us. Go hard or go home. That's been our motto all year and we want to keep it going."

Daphne and Robertsdale advance to play in the 6A Regional A at Baker Saturday. The Lady Golden Bears face off with Murphy at 10 a.m. while Daphne takes on Davidson at 11:15 a.m. Baker, McGill-Toolen, MGM and Satsuma also advanced from area 1,2,3,4 to the qualifying round.

Robertsdale coach Metta Roberts was disappointed in her team's effort.

"You know you can't play teams that are competitive like we did and expect to win. We came to not lose and you have to play to win. Daphne obviously did and we didn't and that's the result. We deserved to get beat.

"Always good to go to regionals but the bad part is now you have to play Murphy in the first round. The good news is we beat them a week ago or so. So we'll see what they're made of. But they have to come out strong and be ready to play or be bounced out for the second consecutive year."

Fairhope and Foley ended their seasons at the area level but both coaches, who are losing a combined 12 seniors, see brighter days ahead.

Fairhope fell behind Daphne 0-2, rallied back to win the third game but fell too far behind in game four.

"I'm proud of my girls for fighting back in game three," said Fairhope coach Jessica Webb. "A lot of teams would have given up in that situation and gone home but we didn't. Our girls fought with everything they had and I'm very proud of them for that. Proud of my seniors who stepped up tonight. It just came down to errors, game four. There were some crucial moments in game four, lucky hits that didn't go our way. Wanted to finish with a win, but I'm proud of the effort over all. Could have done better. But we had a great time this year and I have a great group of girls coming back and we're really excited about next year."

Foley coach Jessica Allred, who finished her first season with the Lady Lions, was also upbeat about the future. Allred put many of her young players in the third game and was impressed.

"They fight from within and a lot of times in this sport that's where it is," she said. "I put a lot of them in and put a lot on them putting them in that third game, but they really proved themselves to me tonight. Next year looks good, two years down the road looks very good. I see a very good team in the making. I think our future looks very good. I'm excited."

Playing without starter Vanessa Dilley who was injured last week also hampered the Lady Lions, but Allred said her team was outplayed by Robertsdale.

"Robertsdale is a very good serving team and very strategic, too."