The University of Wyoming’s women’s volleyball team has forfeited its upcoming Thursday match against San Jose State University, the school’s athletics department announced Friday.
It’s the second time UW has forfeited a SJSU game since the California team’s outside hitter Blaire Fleming made headlines in September on reports of being transgender.
“The University of Wyoming volleyball team will not play its scheduled conference match at San José State University on Thursday, November 14,” says a Friday statement by the athletics department. “Per Mountain West Conference policy, the Conference will record the match as a forfeit and a loss for Wyoming. The Cowgirls will play at Fresno State on Saturday, November 16 at 2 p.m.”
The statement does not indicate why the school is forfeiting. However, after UW initially committed to play against San Jose in September, even after Fleming’s controversy broke, the school received immense backlash from Wyoming lawmakers and members of the public. Some of the Wyoming volleyball players also opposed the notion of playing SJSU, some of their social media posts indicate.
But on Oct. 1, UW announced that it had decided to cancel its Oct. 5 match against SJSU, an about-face from its earlier statement.
Utah State University, Southern Utah University and Boise State University also have canceled matches against the Spartans.
And though their school did not formally support them in the decision, the players of the University of Nevada-Reno voted last month to forfeit their Oct. 26 match against SJSU because of Fleming’s participation. The women cited fairness and safety concerns, making them the first team to cite specifically why they were cancelling.
Following a Friday evening email to the University of Wyoming asking to know why UW has canceled a second San Jose match, the school's spokesman sent back a copy of the original statement from the athletics department.
Lawsuit Is Ongoing
Fleming is a top player for SJSU’s team, and is also at the heart of another SJSU player’s lawsuit complaint against the NCAA. The teammate, Brooke Slusser, sued the NCAA on claims that its policies allowing males to compete in women’s sports are unfair.
That lawsuit is ongoing.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
