Boise State announced it will forfeit its next game in the Mountain West Conference women’s volleyball tournament against San Jose State, scheduled for Friday.
This comes on the heels of a ruling from a U.S. District Court judge in Denver earlier this week denying a motion for emergency injunctive relief that would have ruled a San Jose State player who is alleged to be transgender ineligible, removed wins from the Spartans’ record and upended the seeding for the league’s conference tournament.
It’s part of a lawsuit filed earlier this month by current San Jose State volleyball player Brooke Slusser, San Jose State associate head coach Melissa Batie-Smoose and 10 more current or former Mountain West Conference volleyball players brought against the Mountain West Conference and San Jose State challenging the NCAA’s Title IX protections for transgender athletes in women’s sports.
USA TODAY is not naming the San Jose State volleyball player because neither she nor San Jose State has publicly commented on her gender identity. The person has played two previous seasons for San Jose State.
The issue has put the school’s women’s volleyball program in the middle of the politically charged debate about transgender athletes in women’s sports throughout this season. Judge Kato Crews in his ruling this week noted the plaintiffs ‘could have sought injunctive relief much earlier if the exigencies of the circumstances required mandatory court intervention.” A notice of appeal was filed.
Boise State beat Utah State in Wednesday’s first round of the Mountain West tournament to advance to Friday’s semifinals in Las Vegas. Both Utah State and Boise State were among the five schools that forfeited games against San Jose State this season. San Jose State is the No. 2 seed in the Mountain West Conference tournament, with six of its 12 league wins coming via forfeit.
‘The decision to not continue to play in the 2024 Mountain West Volleyball Championship tournament was not an easy one,’ Boise State said in a statement. ‘Our team overcame forfeitures to earn a spot in the tournament field and fought for the win over Utah State in the first round on Wednesday. They should not have to forgo this opportunity while waiting for a more thoughtful and better system that serves all athletes.”
None of the schools has explicitly stated a reason for taking forfeits against San Jose State, but the presence of a reported transgender athlete on the team is believed to be behind the decisions amidst an increasing amount of national media coverage concerning the issue. The governors of Idaho, Wyoming and Utah all issued statements of support for Boise State, Wyoming and Utah State, respectively, once each school elected to take a forfeit against San Jose State.
San Jose State now advances to Saturday’s championship of the Mountain West tournament where the Spartans play the winner between Colorado State and San Diego State. During the season, San Jose State lost twice to Colorado State and split with San Diego State.
The winner of the conference tournament receives an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, which begins Dec. 5. The bracket will be announced on Sunday.
San Jose State volleyball controversy explained
The reported gender identity of the San Jose State women’s volleyball player appears to have been initially reported in April by the website Reduxx. The report was subsequently cited by national media outlets like Outkick.
The issue resurfaced after San Jose State’s fast start to the 2024 season. The Spartans were initially scheduled to face Southern Utah as part of the Santa Clara Tournament on Sept. 14, but the match was abruptly canceled. Boise State elected not to play its scheduled Mountain West Conference match against San Jose State on Sept. 28.
According to league policy, any team refusing to play shall be deemed to have forfeited the contest. The forfeiting team will be credited with a loss, and the opposing team will be credited with a win. The Mountain West policy also states that due to privacy considerations, a school is not obligated to proactively notify the conference nor other institutions (conference or non-conference) regarding the status of a transgender student-athlete.
Wyoming, Utah State and Nevada followed suit. Wyoming and Boise State each took two forfeit losses rather than face San Jose State.
What to know about San Jose State women’s volleyball lawsuits
Slusser, a co-captain on this year’s San Jose State women’s volleyball team, joined a class-action lawsuit challenging the NCAA’s Title IX protections for transgender athletes in September. In that filing, Slusser claimed San Jose State did not immediately tell her that she had a transgender teammate, and the two lived in a residence with three other teammates together in 2023.
Slusser went on to allege that San Jose State players were told by the school to not speak about their teammate’s gender with people outside the team, and referenced potential safety concerns among teammates and opponents about sharing the court with a transgender athlete.
A separate lawsuit featuring Slusser, Batie-Smoose, two more former San Jose State players and players representing four other Mountain West Conference schools was filed in federal court on Nov. 12. They allege that the school and conference violated the U.S. Constitution and Title IX by allowing a transgender athlete to play for a women’s sports team.