Sand filled the air at Newland Beach on Wednesday at the second annual MPSF Championship as USC prepared to bounce back from a losing streak, including a city-shaking loss against the Bruins. 

Following back-to-back losses against No. 1 UCLA (30-6) and No. 7 Loyola Marymount University (29-10), the Trojans (28-11) attempted to turn this stream of losses into a wave of success as the postseason begins. 

USC opened the tournament with initial success against No. 8 UC Berkeley (23-13), suddenly followed by an unpredictable loss to No. 2 Stanford (36-4). Concluding the weekend of turbulence, the Trojans were eliminated in the semifinals by No. 3 Texas  (26-6) in a 3-2 defeat. 

Trojans take down Cal, see mixed results on a sunny second day

In the tournament opener, No. 5 USC triumphed with a 3-1 win over Cal. The Trojans took control with straight-set wins from juniors Madison Goellner and Kaileigh Truslow at the No. 5 position, with freshman Kyra Zaengle and sophomore Calinda Kok following suit at No. 4. The top court match between junior Zoey Henson and freshman Sarah Wood went unfinished, with the Trojans leading 14-10 in the third set. 

However, as the Trojans moved on to face the Golden Bears’ rivals, they suffered a close loss against the Cardinal. 

With a win against the Cardinal on April 10 in San Luis Obispo, USC was determined to prove that Southern California beaches are superior through a Bay Area sweep, but it was unable to secure a win as the Cardinal flipped the script with a 3-2 comeback. In Huntington Beach, Stanford traded its green trees for a green light to the MPSF finals.

USC started with a 2-0 lead, with Henson and Wood winning in straight sets on court one followed by another straight set victory by junior Ashley Pater and sophomore Kennedy Coakley. But, as the sand heated up in Huntington Beach, Stanford won the remaining three matches in straight sets, tying the match with wins on courts four and three before clinching court five, leading to the Trojans’ defeat.

The result exemplifies a constant problem for the Trojans: Their top pairs can compete with ease and consistency, but the middle and lower courts have unpredictable results — among them the Trojans’ difficulty on the middle and lower courts against UCLA in San Luis Obispo. 

The Trojans later redeemed themselves with a 3-1 win over No. 11Grand Canyon University (19-15, 3-5) to advance to the semifinals the following day. The Trojans bounced back from their earlier loss, taking three courts in straight sets to secure a spot in the semifinals. 

USC pushed the Antelopes into a canyon by establishing control early on as Pater and Coakley delivered a strong win at the No. 2 position. GCU responded with a victory at the third court, tying it up, but juniors Goellner and Truslow secured a win at No. 5. To conclude the long day, Henson and Wood clinched the top court with straight-set wins over GCU juniors Karynn Garrow and Becca Drake of GCU, giving USC the 3-1 win and a spot in the MPSF semifinals.

Everything’s bigger in Texas — including the Longhorns’ comeback

The sun glistened on the last day of the tournament, where the Trojans faced Texas  in the semifinals. The Trojans opened the duel with momentum, claiming two early points to take a 2-0 lead, but much like USC’s loss against Texas across the Pacific at Queen’s Beach in Waikiki, Hawai‘i, the Trojans struggled to keep the momentum going, with the Longhorns mounting a comeback to secure a spot in the final. 

After Pater and Coakley’s victory against the Longhorns, Texas responded with a straight-set win at the top court, then evened the duel on the fifth court, where Goellner and Truslow fell in a tight three-set battle in a long-winded, suspenseful match. 

The final day of the tournament ended with Goellner and Truslow falling on the top court with a three-set final against Texas redshirt junior Macey Butler and graduate student Karin Zolnercikova with a turbulent scoreline. Following suit, sophomore Macy Bolyard and freshman Bella Satterwhite fell to the Longhorns in another three-set match, and the Longhorns clinched it, earning their footing in the MPSF Championship final. 

Now, the Trojans look ahead to the NCAA tournament, seeded No. 4 in a 16-team tournament. They will return to Gulf Shores, Alabama to take on 13th-seeded Texas A&M Corpus-Christi (23-9, 6-0), and will attempt to restore USC’s glory and win their seventh national title, on Friday.