Over the past four months, USC’s winter and spring sports have given Trojan fans countless memories to look back on with fondness — or, in some cases, heartbreak.

Thrilling wins and devastating losses alike have filled the pages of the newest chapter in USC history, and with most sports in the thick of their respective postseasons, there’s no better time to look back at the moments that have stuck with us the most.

From buzzer-beaters to record-breaking winning streaks, here are the Daily Trojan senior sports staff’s picks for the best moments and storylines of Spring 2026.

Vanya Arakelian — Sports Editor

USC beach volleyball had dominated collegiate beach volleyball for four years in a row. 

Last year the Trojans didn’t advance to the national championship. They got knocked out in the quarterfinal round to Loyola Marymount University in a disappointing fashion. This year, the Trojans return to Gulf Shores to notch another national championship in the trophy case.  

Covering the team all year, it’s been clear that this is a national-championship-caliber team led by some powerhouse freshmen — three of the 10 starting players are brand new to collegiate play.

Freshman Sarah Wood is already playing at the No. 1 and No. 2 pair, and has an overall record of 27-11. In a spot normally reserved for upperclassmen, Wood’s high volleyball IQ makes her dig-to-kill transitions look seamless. 

She was just named the MPSF Freshman of the Year, and is the first beach volleyball athlete to sign to Nike. 

Another impressive freshman is Bella Satterwhite. Despite not playing in the opening two tournaments of the year, Satterwhite has solidified her spot at the No. 4 pair. She’s so passionate; I love watching her celebrate by turning around, fist-pumping the air. 

And Satterwhite has had plenty of reason to celebrate. On March 15, the Trojans went against the defending national champions, TCU. When the sand settled, the overall win was going to be determined on court 4. It was a tight third set, but Satterwhite and partner graduate student Kerry Keefe secured the win for the Trojans. 

Meanwhile, Kyra Zaengle, an absolute freshman phenom, has found her footing at the No. 5 pair, sitting at a 20-3 record. Playing in every single match since the season has started, she’s an absolute beast. Before she even started at USC, she played in the Laguna Open, an Association of Volleyball Professionals Contender Event, with USC alum Kelly Cheng. 

These freshmen have absolutely stellar futures ahead of them, and my hope is that they begin their own dynasty throughout their time at USC. The national championship tournament starts on Friday. I’m expecting these freshmen to show up and show out under the pressure; they’re no strangers to it. 

Sean Campbell – Associate Managing Editor

USC women’s water polo had a lot of big wins this season.

The Trojans topped UC Berkeley for the NCAA championship, took down rival UCLA for the MPSF regular season title and crushed early-season opponents by as many as 22 points.

But one moment stands above the rest, one where USC proved it could win it all, and sophomore attacker Emily Ausmus cemented herself as an all-time USC legend. Who’s surprised she won Female Athlete of the Year at the Tommy Awards?

Picture this. Ten seconds on the clock. Scores tied at 10. The opposing Stanford squad was undefeated. Ausmus catches a pass and immediately slings it with full force into the top left corner of the net.

And that’s all she wrote, March 26. 

The Trojans may have lost their only other matchup with the Cardinal for the MPSF postseason title, but that goal and road win changed the trajectory of USC’s season. After two losses to UCLA, Ausmus’ buzzer-beater put USC firmly in title contention and proved this year’s squad had the chops to beat anyone.

Though USC ended up having to take down Cal in the NCAA Tournament finals, instead of either of its more-prominent rivals, the Trojans’ path to victory still led through the Bruins and the Golden Bears, who shocked No. 1-seeded Stanford in the semifinals.

While water polo may not be the most prominent sport on campus, there’s an argument that it might be the most successful overall. With two more years of Ausmus, I wouldn’t count out another “senior sports staff picks” appearance next year, too.

Bennett Christofferson — Sports Editor

On Feb. 13, I covered USC baseball’s first game of the season, marking the Trojans’ return to their home stadium at Dedeaux Field for the first time in nearly three years. They won that game, beating Pepperdine University 3-1. 

The next day, they won again. Then again. Then again, and again and again.

Before we knew it, USC had won 19 games in a row to start the 2026 season, surpassing its previous all-time best start and vaulting itself toward the top of the national rankings.

The day before the Trojans opened their season, I wrote a column lamenting how USC fans appeared to have forgotten we had a baseball team in the first place. A month later, baseball was the only sport anybody was talking about, and seemingly every person I knew was asking when we were going to watch a game together.

While the team has somewhat come down to Earth since then, that opening winning streak is still one of the most exciting things that has happened for USC sports in a while. Watching that record-breaking 16th win made me feel like Brad Pitt anxiously watching the Athletics’ 20th win in “Moneyball” (2011), a feeling that our basketball squads were certainly failing to replicate around that time.

Okay, maybe it’s a bit of a cop-out to say that the best “moment” of the year was a stretch of 19 different games. For something more specific, give me junior outfielder Andrew Lamb’s walk-off home run on Valentine’s Day to give the Trojans an 11-0 run-rule victory — a game in which they also no-hit Pepperdine for seven innings. That display of powerful offense and lights-out pitching set the stage for the dominance to come.

Dillon Zamperin — Sports Editor

Coming into the 2025-26 women’s basketball season, USC was set to face a gauntlet of a schedule. By their final game in March Madness, the Trojans had faced three of the Final Four teams and two of them twice. Plus, superstar junior guard JuJu Watkins was ruled out for the season.

And yet USC still finished the year with an overall 18-14 record.

Much of its success was because of Big Ten Freshman of the Year Jazzy Davidson. In 32 games, she averaged 17.9 points, around 4.1 assists, 5.6 rebounds, 2.0 steals and nearly 2.0 blocks. Yes, she was that good.

While USC fans know Davidson’s artistry, it wasn’t until the first round of the NCAA Tournament that the whole country found out who Davidson truly was, in a matchup that should be known as the Jazzy Davidson takeover game.

Facing No. 8 seed Clemson, Davidson had already scored 25 points before going into overtime, but her final two shots are what she’ll be remembered for. 

Down by three points with 2:17 left in overtime, Davidson hit a game-tying 3-pointer, tying the game at 64 apiece. One minute later, the basketball found its way back to Davidson’s hands, and she buried another trey, putting the No. 9-seeded Trojans up by three and knocking Clemson out of the Tournament in the best game of her life.

Sure, Watkins is coming back next season. And yes, incoming recruit Saniyah Hall and transfer Ryann Bennett will likely play meaningful minutes down the stretch.

But, a famous musician once said, “If you have to ask what jazz is, you’ll never know.”

Jazzy Davidson and her takeover game are two things I will never forget.