After a highly successful 2025 campaign that saw USC women’s volleyball win 25 games and earn its fourth straight NCAA Tournament bid, a shocking second-round loss to Cal Poly proved to be a devastating ending. However, with their 2026 schedule having been announced on May 28, the Trojans have plenty of chances to gain momentum and take on the new season headfirst.

USC will first look to make a season-opening statement at the State Farm Volleyball Showcase in Sioux Falls. The Trojans will start Aug. 29 with a tough match against Arizona State, an established powerhouse that has won the past two Big 12 regular-season titles. 

The Trojans’ second match of the Showcase is against Creighton University on Aug. 30. The Bluejays achieved a perfect record of 16-0 in the Big East last season, but USC still swept them during the Trojan Invitational title match.

Before the official Big Ten season starts, the Trojans will play in a newly announced tournament for the 2026 season: the inaugural Big Ten/SEC Volleyball Challenge Week. This event has been a joint effort of both conferences, including the 18 Big Ten and 16 SEC schools, to play against each other during the first week of September. 

USC will be partaking in one match, traveling to Texas to play the Longhorns on Sept. 2. In the most recent matchup between the two, USC fell short during the second round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament, taking a 3-0 loss to the Longhorns.

Another must-see set of matches will be USC’s home opener at Galen Center, where it will play three former Pac-12 opponents across three straight days of competition.  The Trojans will host Colorado for their first match at home Sept. 11, before following it up with Arizona on Sept. 12 and Oregon State on Sept. 13. 

Colorado and USC have a long-standing rivalry — even though the Trojans hold the edge with a record of 23-4 — but have not faced off since both teams left the Pac-12. In the last matchup between the Buffaloes and Trojans in 2023, Colorado defeated the Trojans 3-2.

After the nonconference matches wrap up, the Trojans will play 17 conference matches against Big Ten schools during the 2026 season. Last season, USC ended strong with a 15-5 conference record, which was tied for the third-best record in the Big Ten.

One of the most exciting Big Ten matches is set for Oct. 24, when the Trojans travel to Lincoln to play Nebraska. Last season, the Cornhuskers swept USC at Galen Center and ended the season as the Big Ten champions. If the Trojans want to see better results in 2026, they will need to work on their accuracy, as they hit just .156 compared to the Cornhuskers’ .412. 

Another high-profile matchup will be the rivalry bout between USC and UCLA on Nov. 17. In their first matchup of 2025, the Bruins shut down the Trojans 3-0 at Pauley Pavilion, but USC got its revenge, sweeping UCLA later that season at Galen Center. In 2026, the conference match against the Bruins will prove to be incredibly important, as it could determine whether USC secures a spot in the NCAA Tournament. 

Right before the NCAA Tournament, the Trojans will have a chance to secure their berth with the inaugural Big Ten Tournament. The new tournament will be held as a single-elimination bracket at Fisher’s Event Center in Indiana, running from Nov. 20-25. 

The Trojans must have a top-15 record in the Big Ten to reach the conference tournament. The winner will receive automatic entry into the NCAA Tournament, where only 64 schools across the nation qualify.

With USC’s 2025 season ending just shy of making it to the Sweet 16, the Trojans will look to turn it around and make it even further in 2026.