Boise State University Pulls Out Of MWC Volleyball Tourney Over Trans Player

The Boise State University women’s volleyball team pulled out of the Mountain West Volleyball tournament Wednesday night over a transgender player on the San Jose State team. Boise State also twice forfeited matches to SJSU during the regular season.

CM
Clair McFarland

November 28, 20243 min read

Boise State University beat Utah State on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, to advance to the Mountain West Conference volleyball tournament's semifinals. Then Boise State announced it will boycott that match and not play against San Jose State, which has a transgender player in its lineup.
Boise State University beat Utah State on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, to advance to the Mountain West Conference volleyball tournament's semifinals. Then Boise State announced it will boycott that match and not play against San Jose State, which has a transgender player in its lineup. (NCAA Photos via Utah State University)

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. 

In a Thursday email to Cowboy State Daily, SJSU wrote, “In this time of Thanksgiving, we are especially thankful for those who continue to engage in civil and respectful discourse. We celebrate and support all of our students, including our student-athletes as they compete for our community on this holiday weekend.”

The school is disappointed in Boise State’s decision, the statement continues, adding that the SJSU women’s volleyball team is preparing for Saturday’s match, “and looks forward to competing for a championship.”

Contact Clair McFarland at clair@cowboystatedaily.com

Blaire Fleming, a redshirt junior on the San Jose State University volleyball team.
Blaire Fleming, a redshirt junior on the San Jose State University volleyball team. (San Jose State University Athletics)

Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.

Authors

CM

Clair McFarland

Crime and Courts Reporter