As June comes to an end, so does the Spring 2026 season for multiple sports at USC. Some teams became champions, some put together historic campaigns — and some ended the year in need of a reset.

Baseball

Baseball’s incredible season came to an excruciating end in the Super Regionals, falling just short of advancing to USC’s first College World Series appearance in 25 years. The Trojans went 48-18 in the regular season and playoffs, marking their most wins in a single season since 1998. 

The team improved for its fourth consecutive year under Head Coach Andy Stankiewicz and immediately reestablished its dominance at a renovated Dedeaux Field, going 32-1 at home.

2026 All-Americans junior Mason Edwards and sophomore Grant Govel headlined the outstanding pitching staff, while the lineup featured breakout seasons from junior infielder Adrian Lopez, sophomore catcher Augie Lopez and junior outfielder Kevin Takeuchi, who helped the Trojans average over seven runs per game. 

Beach volleyball

Beach volleyball, ranked No. 5 by season’s end, struggled to take the next step to seal victories over its contemporaries atop the collegiate beach volleyball hierarchy. While USC won 29 matches during the season, it was just 2-9 against top teams Stanford, UCLA and Texas.

In the NCAA Tournament, the Trojans trampled Texas A&M Corpus Christi to advance past the Round of 16. However, in the quarterfinals, USC fell to a Florida State team that had lost only twice all season, ending the Trojans’ year. 

Despite this, the Trojans assembled some successful combinations, such as the pairing of junior Zoey Henson and freshman Sarah Wood, as well as junior Ashley Pater and sophomore Kennedy Coakley.

Golf

After a season in which men’s golf won four team tournaments, the Trojans earned a spot in the NCAA Championships for the first time in seven years. There, the team finished 29th to miss the 54-hole cut. 

Still, USC’s excellent season was highlighted by the emergence of sophomores and First Team All-Big Ten players Jack Buchanan and Jaden Dumdumaya. Buchanan finished inside the top three in his last three tournaments before the regional round, including an individual title in April. Dumdumaya, the Big Ten Player of the Year, posted five top-10 finishes and fired two rounds of 63 this season.

Meanwhile, women’s golf was nearly unbeatable all season, winning eight team tournaments and six individual titles. USC found another gear starting in mid-February, winning seven straight tournaments leading into the NCAA Championship, where it fell to No. 1 Stanford in the national championship match. 

Sophomore Jasmine Koo broke the all-time program wins record in just her second collegiate season, which included the Big Ten Championship in April. Senior and Big Ten Player of the Year Catherine Park closed out her USC career in style with a fourth-place finish for her third-career NCAA Championship top-five. 

All five primary match players for USC — junior Bailey Shoemaker, sophomore Kylie Chong and sophomore Elise Lee, along with Koo and Park — were All-American selections in a true team effort. 

Lacrosse

Lacrosse went 8-9 this season, won just one Big Ten game and failed to qualify for the conference tournament. 

Sam Apuzzo, a former assistant coach for a Boston College team that went to four straight national championship games during her tenure, was hired on June 17 to replace founding head coach Lindsey Munday. Apuzzo will aim to help USC elevate its play against formidable opponents after going a combined 4-12 in the Big Ten since joining the conference.

Despite the Trojans’ spotty record, junior attacker Emma Bunting stuffed the stat sheet in her best collegiate season to date, while junior attacker Reese Robinson, sophomore attacker Kaylee Fravert and sophomore midfielder Alex May were significant offensive contributors. 

Men’s volleyball

Men’s volleyball jumped out of the gate and established itself as a preeminent threat to fellow West Coast volleyball heavyweights this season, going 9-5 in the MPSF and 17-6 overall. 

After a runner-up finish to UCLA at the MPSF Championship, the Trojans received an at-large bid for the expanded 12-team NCAA Tournament, the program’s first in seven years, where they would fall to eventual national champion Hawai’i in the regional final. 

Senior outside hitter Dillon Klein was once again transcendent for the Trojans in his final season, taking first-team AVCA All-American honors for the second time. Alongside improved defense from junior middle blocker Wesley Smith and sophomore middle blocker Parker Tomkinson, USC enjoyed one of the best men’s volleyball campaigns in recent memory.

Rowing

Another season, another sixth-place finish for rowing. In their second season in the Big Ten, the Trojans finished the conference tournament in the same position they were last year.

The Varsity Four and Second Varsity Four both had Petite Final wins at the Big Ten Championships to keep USC in the mix. The Second Varsity Eight advanced from the first day of the Big Ten Championships to the finals, where they finished fourth, which was not enough to advance to the NCAA Rowing Championships. 

Still, USC entered the playoffs in good form, including a four-race sweep of San Diego in early May. Sophomores Viktoryia Vasilyeva and Gerli Endrekson were named First Team and Second Team All-Big Ten, respectively.

Tennis

Men’s tennis won each of its final four matches in the regular season to earn the Big Ten’s fourth seed, possessing plenty of momentum ahead of the postseason. However, USC went out unceremoniously in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament to fifth-seeded UCLA. 

In the NCAA Championship, the Trojans took care of business 4-2 against No. 40 Duke in the Round of 64, but were swept by No. 9 Oklahoma in the second round. Sophomore Nathan Trouve and freshman Max Exsted were standouts this season for USC, especially in doubles, and went 15-2 when paired together. 

Women’s tennis had a strong season in every measure, including a 21-7 overall record with just one blemish in the Big Ten, going 12-1 to claim a share of the regular season Big Ten title. 

The Trojans’ seven-match winning streak came to a premature end in the Big Ten Championship against No. 7 seed Maryland.

However, USC got back on track with comfortable victories in the first two rounds of the NCAA Championship. In what became a regular occurrence all season, sophomore Jana Hossam, freshman Dani Borruel, senior Emma Charney and freshman Krisha Mahendran all delivered points for the Trojans. 

But, in the NCAA Super Regional, Texas A&M downed USC to send the Trojans home after a spectacular year. 

Track and field

Despite a multitude of injuries this season, both men’s and women’s track and field were well-represented at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene. USC rose to the occasion in the NCAA West Regionals, sending 25 entries to the national semifinals between the two squads. 

The men’s relay teams and discus throwers excelled during the regional round: The 4×100-meter and 4×400-meter teams, alongside all three throwers, earned trips to Oregon. 

On the women’s side, the Trojans left the West Regionals with some history made. Sophomore sprinter Brianna Selby’s 100-meter time shattered the program record and became the seventh-best time in NCAA history at 10.83 seconds. The 4x100m relay team — which included senior sprinter Dajaz DeFrand, who also qualified in the 100-meter and 200-meter events — won its race.

In the NCAA Outdoor Championships, the women finished fifth overall but won the NCAA 4x100m relay title for the second straight season and got impressive performances from junior sprinter Madison Whyte and sophomore thrower Ashley Erasmus. 

For the men, junior thrower Racquil Broderick and graduate thrower Vincent Ugwoke took home second and third place in the discus final, respectively, as the team finished in 10th overall. 

Women’s water polo

While women’s water polo was on the losing end of three of the previous four NCAA Championship games coming into the 2026 season, the team’s dramatic triumph over UC Berkeley in this year’s final made the Trojans’ first national title since 2021 well worth the wait. 

All year, USC was the class of the MPSF. The Trojans didn’t lose a conference game, won 11 straight matches to close out the regular season and ended the year 25-3. 

Sophomore attacker Emily Ausmus not only led the team in scoring but also won both the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches Player of the Year and the Cutino Award, given to the nation’s top player.