Time to celebrate spring sports

I would like to make a toast … to the many USC squads that have put up with a  good amount of the Trojan faithful that seem to only care about football.

Now that 2015 National Signing Day is finally behind us and USC football has once again asserted itself as a recruiting powerhouse, I feel like it’s finally time to shift our focus to the USC varsity sports that are actually in full swing of competition.

With the spectacle of recruits signing their letters of intent on national television and illustrating their commitments in intricately produced videos, it’s pretty easy to get caught up in what I call the “USC football 365” type of mentality, but it’s very important to not take for granted the 19 other teams that represent the cardinal and gold every year.

As the sports editor of this publication, I believe that it’s my duty to ensure that these teams receive the proper recognition they deserve for all of their hard work in and out of competition, resulting in a plethora of individual and team awards that contribute to USC’s athletic tradition of excellence.

The greatest thing about the winter and spring seasons, really, is the great range and diversity of sports and world-class venues in which they offer.

Whether it’s a basketball game or volleyball match at the Galen Center, a tennis match at Marks Stadium, a sand volleyball tournament at Merle Norman Stadium, a ball game at Dedeaux Field or even a swim meet at the newly renovated Uytengsu Aquatics Center, one is able to cater to their sporting tastes by spending an afternoon or evening in just about any of these settings.

One of the coolest sights for me so far this year actually was when the women’s lacrosse team, in just its third year as a program, nearly took down the No. 5-ranked Northwestern Wildcats, a national powerhouse, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum last Saturday. Unfortunately, the Women of Troy fell to the Wildcats 11-12 in overtime, though, it’s this type of spectacle that I’m sure Athletic Director Pat Haden envisioned when he brought women’s lacrosse to the West Coast.

There’s really no better time than the winter and spring to highlight these teams because these seasons feature some of the school’s most celebrated and accomplished teams that fall under most people’s radars.

Let’s start off with the No. 6 nationally ranked women’s golf program, who started their spring campaign off on a high note on Tuesday after placing second at the annual Grumman Regional Challenge in nearby Palos Verdes, California.

The Women of Troy will once again have championship aspirations after losing by just two strokes to Duke in the  2014 NCAA Championships, which would have have been its second consecutive national title and fourth in program history under the direction of head coach Andrea Gatson, who is in her 19th year with the program as one of the most highly respected coaches in the country.

Gatson’s team features a few of the nation’s best golfers including senior Doris Chen, who won the 2014 NCAA individual crown and is a three-time All-American. Junior Annie Park is also one of the country’s finest golfers and began this season tied for most wins in school history.

Nonetheless, watch out for the Women of Troy showing off their technical swings on courses across the country.

The program I’m most excited to watch this spring, though, is USC women’s sand volleyball.

In just two years, head coach Anna Collier has taken the Women of Troy to the top of the the sport with her team finishing third nationally during both seasons and coaching the past two national champion pairs teams of Kirby Burnham and Stevi Robinson in 2013, along with Burnham and Sara Hughes in 2014.

With the help of the program’s stunning facility and star-powered coaching staff, Collier has helped pioneer the sport of collegiate volleyball, which will become an NCAA division one championship officially in 2016.

Shifting to the men’s side of things indoors, we know how well the men’s volleyball team is doing based on how my fellow columnist Luke Holthouse exclaimed his love for senior setter Micah Christenson in his weekly party.

Head coach Bill Ferguson and his No. 2-ranked program is off to its best start in 24 years, going undefeated with a perfect 7-0 record before losing to Hawai’i last week.

I know it’s hard to keep up with all of the different sporting events that are going on around us, but I recommend making the effort to become familiar with as many of them as possible.

Now that we’ve all tapped our glasses and this toast has been made, let’s all promise to go out and show these accomplished squads our support this season.

Darian Nourian is a junior majoring in print and digital journalism. He is also the sports editor of the Daily Trojan. His column, “Persian Persuasion,” runs Thursdays.