Four Mountain West Conference teams, including the University of Wyoming, have now canceled scheduled matches against San Jose State University’s women’s volleyball after reports surfaced that the California team has a transgender player in its lineup.
Two other conference teams, including Colorado State University, have signaled they are determined to play as scheduled.
Utah State University was the latest school to cancel its match. The school announced its decision in a two-sentence statement posted online Wednesday, saying it “will not participate in its scheduled October 23, 2024, volleyball match at San Jose State University.”
Southern Utah University was the first school to opt out of playing the Spartans, cancelling its Sept. 14 match against SJSU after news broke that outside hitter Blaire Fleming is transgender.
Boise State then canceled its Sept. 28 game.
The University of Wyoming told Cowboy State Daily on two occasions that it was on track to play its Saturday game against SJSU.
UW’s spokesman wrote last week, “Opinions regarding fairness vary from individual to individual among the involved parties — (like) coaches, student-athletes, etc.”
But UW then changed course Tuesday after a “lengthy discussion,” according to the school’s athletic department.
SJSU has cited the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) in declining to comment to Cowboy State Daily on Fleming’s sex.
Fleming has not spoken publicly or responded to a social media message request for comment.
CSU Is On
Colorado State University showed no signs of bowing out of its Thursday evening home battle against San Jose State as it drew near.
“Mountain West Volleyball, tonight at Moby! Be there!” reads a Thursday-morning post to X (formerly Twitter) by Colorado State Volleyball.
The University of Nevada-Reno has also signaled that it plans to play its Oct. 26 scheduled match with SJSU.
"The University of Nevada volleyball team remains focused on its upcoming matches with UNLV (University of Las Vegas, Nevada) and San Diego State and intends to play its remaining Mountain West schedule, including the match with San José State University on October 26.” says an email the school sent Thursday to Cowboy State Daily.
“The University will continue to abide by the NCAA, Mountain West Conference and USA Volleyball rules and regulations as well as the laws and Constitution of the State of Nevada,” the school added.
Other teams scheduled to play San Jose in the coming weeks did not respond by publication time to Cowboy State Daily requests for comment. Those are:
• The University of New Mexico
• The University of Las Vegas, Nevada
• San Diego State University
• Air Force Academy
• Fresno State University
The Air Force Academy in particular said it could not get an answer to Cowboy State Daily for at least a day.
That Spike
A group of elite female athletes are suing the NCAA alongside women’s-rights activist Riley Gaines, challenging its transgender policies as unfair and harmful to women.
One of Fleming’s teammates, who has also roomed with Fleming, asked last month to join the lawsuit with her own allegations. The judge has not yet ruled on her request.
The San Jose State teammate, Brooke Slusser, alleges in a court filing that Fleming spikes the ball about 80 mph, faster than she’d ever seen a woman hit a volleyball.
“The girls were doing everything they could to dodge Fleming’s spikes but still could not fully protect themselves,” says Slusser’s proposed addition to the lawsuit.
As of Thursday, Fleming was ranked as SJSU’s second-best player in points, kills and total attacks.
The team is undefeated with nine wins overall.
But Which Pressures?
It is unclear what prompted the University of Wyoming’s about-face this week.
The school announced that it would forfeit after two other schools in its conference, and at the same time many Republican state legislators were circulating a petition-style letter with strong overtones of potential budget cuts if UW played.
But other chatter indicates some of the Wyoming volleyball players may have been involved in the about-face decision.
“Incredibly proud of my daughter standing up for safe spaces for WOMEN to compete!!” wrote one Wyoming player’s mother Tuesday in a public post to Facebook. “Proud of Wyoming, proud of our Cowgirls!!”
The mother did not return a Wednesday Cowboy State Daily voicemail request for additional comment.
Another player’s mother wrote Tuesday, in a public Facebook post: “Proud to have my kids at schools that support WOMENS sports!”
She, too, did not respond by Thursday to Wednesday requests for comment.
Many other parents of UW players either did not respond to voicemails or declined to comment.
“She’s busy,” said one father of his volleyball-playing daughter.
Players contacted by Cowboy State Daily via their Instagram accounts did not respond for comment.
The LGBTQ Advocacy Group
Santi Murillo, communications coordinator for LGBTQ advocacy group Wyoming Equality, authored a Wednesday statement saying, “Athletics should be about fostering teamwork, growth and healthy competition — not about discrimination and exclusion.”
Wyoming Equality captioned the quote in a post calling Wyoming’s government big and overreaching.
“Let them play ball,” wrote the group. “The decision made by UW to forfeit the upcoming volleyball match against SJSU underscores the urgent need to refocus sports on consistently applied standards that create fairness and opportunity.”
Wyoming Equality also opposed a 2023 bill banning males from girls’ school sports in grades seven through 12 in Wyoming.
The bill became law later that year.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
