After months of controversy surrounding a transgender player on its team, San Jose State University’s women’s volleyball squad lost to Colorado State University in the Mountain West Conference championship Saturday.
The CSU Rams defeated the San Jose Spartans 3-1 in four sets, 27-25, 25-20, (23-25) and 25-16.
Blaire Fleming, SJSU’s transgender outside hitter, was the California team’s top scorer with 18.5 points, but paled in comparison to CSU’s top scorer Malaya Jones, who had 28 in the match.
Jones also led both teams in kills with 26, while Fleming led San Jose State with 17.
San Jose State head coach Todd Kress composed a statement after the match, thanking the team’s seniors and congratulating all the players for putting “their love of the game above all else to play as a team each and every match.”
Five other Mountain West teams forfeited games against SJSU this season after news broke that Fleming is male. The forfeiting teams took between one and two regular-season losses. Boise State University took a third loss in the tournament, pulling out of the playoffs rather than playing the Spartans after advancing to the semifinal round.
Also, 11 current and former volleyball players and one SJSU associate coach are suing the Mountain West Conference and SJSU, accusing them of discriminating against the female players and retaliating against those who chose to boycott games.
Appalling And Hateful
Kress characterized the boycotts as saddening and noted that the boycotting teams had played against Fleming in past seasons “without incident.”
The boycotts prompted online bullying, said Kress.
“We did not celebrate a single win by forfeiture,” he said. “Instead, we braced for the fallout. Each forfeiture announcement unleashed appalling, hateful messages individuals chose to send directly to our student-athletes, our coaching staff and many associated with our program.”
He thanked those who sent messages of support.
“Like you, I am enormously proud of this team and I am enormously proud to be the coach of these resilient women,” said Kress.
Meanwhile
Meanwhile, the women’s lawsuit against the Mountain West Conference and SJSU continues.
A federal judge in Colorado declined last week to remove the boycotting teams’ forfeit losses and pull Fleming from the tournament. The 10th Circuit of Appeals upheld that ruling.
While the Colorado judge, U.S. District Court Judge S. Kato Crews, pronounced a low likelihood of success for the women’s lawsuit altogether, the higher court countered and said their questions may have merit.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
