Boise State withdraws from Mountain West volleyball tournament game against San Jose State due to unsubstantiated transgender claims

CNN
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The Boise State women’s volleyball team has withdrawn from its Mountain West Conference Championship tournament game against San Jose State University (SJSU) due to an ongoing, unfounded gender controversy involving an SJSU player.

The Boise State Broncos, who gave no reason for their withdrawal, boycotted their two games against the San Jose State Spartans during the regular season, with SJSU suffering a total of six forfeit wins over the course of the season due to withdrawals by Mountain West opponents.

“The decision not to continue to participate in the 2024 Mountain West Volleyball Championship tournament was not an easy decision,” Boise State said in a statement Wednesday.

“Our team overcame losses to earn a spot in the tournament field and fought to defeat Utah State in the first round on Wednesday. They shouldn’t have to forgo this opportunity while they wait for a more thoughtful and better system that serves all athletes.”

CNN has reached out to Boise State and SJSU for comment. Neither the player in question nor SJSU have publicly commented on the player’s gender, and CNN is not identifying the player by name, having previously declined comment through a university official.

According to the Associated Press (AP), Wyoming, Utah State, Nevada and Southern Utah have also canceled games against SJSU this season. The five teams have all canceled their games against San Jose State, apparently due to rumors that SJSU has a transgender player on its team. The issue was widely discussed by political figures during the last campaign season.

According to documents filed in federal court, the controversy began last spring when rumors began to swirl about the Spartans player.

The situation escalated in early November when another San Jose State player, Brooke Slusser, and players from two other Mountain West Conference schools filed a lawsuit to stop the allegedly transgender player from competing.

However, on Monday, a federal judge in Denver ruled that the player was allowed to compete, and a federal appeals court upheld the decision the following day.

Republican governors from Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming have publicly supported women’s volleyball teams pulling out of games against SJSU, citing the need for “fairness.” in women’s sports.

But Mountain West Conference commissioner Gloria Nevarez told the AP last month that the student at the center of the controversy “meets the eligibility requirements (to participate in women’s college sports)”: “It breaks my heart , because they are people.”, young people, student-athletes on both sides of this issue that is getting a lot of negative attention nationally. It just doesn’t feel right to me.”

Ahead of the recent US election, President-elect Donald Trump told a FOX News town hall about a volleyball game he watched: “I saw the slam, it was a slam. I’ve never seen a ball hit so hard and hit the girl in the head.”

Although Trump did not elaborate on what game it was, San Diego State later released a statement saying, “It was erroneously reported that a San Diego State University student-athlete was injured during a game against San Jose State with a Volleyball was hit in the face.” University.”

The statement added: “The ball bounced off the student-athlete’s shoulder, and the athlete was uninjured and did not miss a play.”

Earlier Wednesday, Boise State defeated Utah State 25-19, 18-25, 25-20, 25-23 to advance to the semifinals.

San Jose State, the No. 2 seed in the Mountain West tournament, now advances to Saturday’s final, where it will face either No. 1 Colorado State or No. 5 San Diego State, which meet in Friday’s semifinals.