Rather than compete against a team with a transgender player Friday, Boise State University dropped out of this year’s Mountain West Conference volleyball championship Wednesday night.
It’s the seventh in a six-game string of boycotts by Boise State, University of Wyoming and other Mountain West teams of playing San Jose State University.
“The decision to not continue to play in the 2024 Mountain West Volleyball Championship tournament was not an easy one,” reads a statement the school dispatched late Wednesday. “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."
Boise State beat Utah State University 3-1 in four matches Wednesday. The winner of that match was set to play second-seeded SJSU Friday at 5 p.m. mountain time.
Utah State had also forfeited against San Jose prior during pre-tournament conference play.
The semifinal round boycott comes after 11 former and current volleyball players — plus an associate coach for San Jose — sued the Mountain West Conference earlier this month, and asked the federal court to remove the transgender player, Blaire Fleming, from the tournament while the litigation is ongoing and to reverse the forfeit losses the boycotting teams have taken.
Judge S. Kato Crews declined to do that, and wrote that the women are likely to lose their lawsuit altogether.
When the women appealed to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, the higher court also refused to rearrange the tournament, but that court countered Crews, saying the women’s lawsuit may have merit.
After it pockets its seventh win by forfeit Friday, SJSU will play either first-seeded Colorado State University or fifth-seeded San Diego State University later Friday. Neither of those teams has forfeited against SJSU this season.
Contact Clair McFarland at clair@cowboystatedaily.com
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
