USU volleyball has made headlines spectacularly, like with their recent win over San Diego. They fell behind by two sets and nearly dropped their first three matches of Mountain West play. This time, however, USU is the latest Mountain West University to cancel its volleyball game, with San Jose State University seemingly opposing the NCAA and now allowing transgender women to play.
The Aggies were not the first and might not be the last. The first team to cancel was Southern Utah University, which canceled its match on September 14. During the Santa Clara Tournament, SJSU canceled their scheduled matchup, and the University has not released a statement as to why they canceled.
USU and Three Other Universities Forfeit
The controversy is surrounding the San Jose State team player, who is reportedly a biological male who is now playing as a transgender young woman, Blaire Fleming. USU is not the only university that seems uncomfortable playing. The other university that refuses to play is Boise State, which also recently forfeited its matchup against San Jose. Soon after, Boise State forfeited, and Wyoming did so as well.
While Southern Utah University hasn’t released a statement, USU did on Wednesday, October 2. The statement given wasn’t online for long before it was stricken from the USU website. It stated that their women’s volleyball team would not play their scheduled match on October 23 and would abide by how the policy of the Mountain West Conference would record the game.
OutKick contacted San Jose State after Wyoming announced their forfeit and sent an email statement. In it, San Jose State expressed its disappointment that an SJSU student-athlete who is compliant with all NCAA and Mountain West rules and regulations is being denied opportunities to play. They reaffirmed their commitment to supporting their student-athlete through the challenges and reaffirmed their support to athletes to compete in fair, safe, respectful, and all-inclusive environments.
Utah Governor and House Speaker Comment
That contrasts a statement from Utah Governor Spencer Cox’s office offered when he posted from his X account. In it, he says that he stands with the students, coaching staff, and leaders at SUU and USU to forgo their women’s volleyball matches scheduled against San Jose State. He further points out that preserving a program for women to compete fairly and safely is essential. Female athletes face this problem because the NCAA has fallen short in protecting female athletes and women’s sports in fair play. He says it is time for the NCAA to be serious and protect female student-athletes.
Others have also expressed their opinions, such as Utah House Speaker Mike Schulz, who supported USU and the Southern Utah Women’s Volleyball team. He praised them for taking action to protect and preserve women’s sports.
Wyoming Makes a Statement
While other universities have not come forward with statements or retracted them, Wyoming has. The University of Wyoming said that after a lengthy discussion, they will not play San Jose State and will take the conference record decision as they will play their next opponent, Fresno State.
This decision praised the Governor of Wyoming, Mark Gordon, who posted it on X. He says that he fully supports the decision by @wyoathletics to forego playing its volleyball match against San Jose State and that all must stand for integrity and fairness in female athletics.
Trouble On Both Sides
There have been comments both of praise and dismissal from both sides. There seems to be a divide between the forces of those against this change and those for it. Personal opinions are given freely. Let us not forget that we all have something in common and do not have to make different lines into battle lines. For example, on October 2, one of Fleming’s teammates received a direct message on social media warning her and her teammates to “look out” if they continued playing for the Spartans.
There has also been trouble for San Jose State for other reasons. Brooke Slusser plays with the Spartans in college volleyball and has been facing hate after she openly stood up against her teammate Blaire Fleming’s being allowed to play. Once she openly stood up for the rights of female players, Slusser has also been receiving hateful messages, even life-threatening ones.
San Jose Takes First Loss
The hard news continues for the Spartans as they were able to play against the Colorado State University Rams. San Jose lost to the Rams in straight sets, scoring 18-25, 20-25, and 20-25. Due to the threats to Slusser and her teammates, the match against Colorado State was held in Moby Area under tight police security. The game came almost 48 hours after USU became the fourth University to decide not to openly play against San Jose State.
Slusser, as well as other players, have joined a lawsuit against the NCAA calling for the exclusion of transgender players from women’s sports. Macy Petty, a CWA legislative assistant and a NCAA volleyball athlete, stated,
“Female athletes were put in this odd position of showing up on the court and looking at the other side and realizing that something was different about this game. I’ve never seen an athlete play like this before, which makes total sense considering that this athlete, first of all, is not female, but the net is seven inches shorter than it should be for male players.”
The Game Goes On For Some
While several schools have refused to play against San Jose State, the University of Nevada has stepped forward, stating they will play in their scheduled match. They went on to say that the University of Nevada remains focused on its upcoming match, San Jose State, and will continue to its remaining Mountain West schedule.
Currently, the Mountain West Conference has remained relatively silent on the matter, preferring to deflect attention toward the individual schools and the NCAA. The conference made a statement about the University’s decision to forfeit. They reaffirmed that it is the University’s decision, and these forfeits do follow the current policy according to conference standings.
San Jose State will go on a play against San Diego State on October 10 and San Diego has not made any statements on canceling. Overall, with these forfeits, this is the best start that San Diego has ever had, as they stand at 9-1 overall right now. USU will also play on the 10th they face off against New Mexico.
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