Boise State forfeits Mountain West tournament match over trans issue
San Jose State volleyball players and coach Todd Kress sat in the stands at UNLV’s Cox Pavilion for two hours Wednesday to scout for a Mountain West tournament game that won’t be played.
The No. 2-seeded Spartans, embroiled in a national controversy surrounding an alleged transgender player on their roster, were slated to play Boise State in the semifinals Friday after the No. 6 Broncos upset No. 3 Utah State 25-19, 18-25, 25-20, 25-23 in the first round of the tournament.
But Boise State made a late-night announcement refusing to play.
San Jose State accepted six of its 12 conference wins in the regular season via forfeits from Boise State, Utah State, Wyoming and UNR. With the help of those forfeitures, the Spartans secured a bye into the semifinals of the conference tournament, and will now advance straight to the championship game.
The choice to cancel again effectively ends the Broncos’ season, denying them a chance at the conference title and subsequent NCAA Tournament bid.
“The decision to not continue to play in the 2024 Mountain West Volleyball Championship tournament was not an easy one,” Boise State said in a statement. “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.”
Initial confusion
In the immediate aftermath of the win, Boise State athletic media relations director Doug Link said players would not speak to the media and that reporters would only be allowed to ask Broncos coach Shawn Garus about the win over Utah State.
Link was subsequently asked whether Boise State would play San Jose State in the semifinal, to which he responded he wasn’t sure.
“I think we’re playing,” he said.
When pressed for more details about what factors — whether internal or political — would influence the decision and what the timetable for it would be, he backtracked, saying the team would discuss it.
“No decision has been made,” Link said. “I don’t know what’s going to go on.”
In response, San Jose State issued a statement to the Review-Journal saying the team was “excited and prepared to take the court on Friday night.”
The Spartans will instead play either top-seeded Colorado State or No. 5 San Diego State for the title at 2 p.m. Saturday. Both teams opted to compete against San Jose State twice this year.
San Diego State beat No. 4 Fresno State 25-18, 16-25, 25-18, 25-17 on Wednesday to advance to Friday’s 1 p.m. semifinal against Colorado State.
Colorado State watched all the action from the same taped-off section of the bleachers as San Jose State on Wednesday, enjoying a bye to the semifinals as the conference’s regular-season champion.
Lawsuits
Players from each conference team that forfeited matches to San Jose State this season are represented in a lawsuit that was filed against the Mountain West and commissioner Gloria Nevarez, among other defendants, on Nov. 13.
Marshi Smith, co-founder of the Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS), was in attendance to watch Boise State-Utah State. ICONS is backing the lawsuit against the Mountain West, along with a separate suit against the NCAA that was filed in September.
San Jose State co-captain Brooke Slusser is a plaintiff in both filings. Her testimonies have expressed concerns about the safety and fairness of NCAA and Mountain West policies, which are aligned with Olympic guidelines to allow transgender athletes to compete if they meet certain hormone limits.
Slusser testified in the filings about wanting teammate Blaire Fleming off the team on the allegation that she is transgender. This is Fleming’s third season playing for the Spartans, but rumors surrounding her gender identity did not begin to circulate until this year.
She has not publicly confirmed she is transgender, nor has San Jose State. The university is only obligated to confirm whether all of its players are eligible under NCAA rules, which San Jose State has done.
Junior opposite hitter Kiersten Van Kirk and freshman outside hitter Katelyn Van Kirk are Boise State’s representatives in the most recent lawsuit, which alleges that the Mountain West covertly changed its policy for forfeitures against eligible teams to count as losses as a means to penalize Boise State specifically for being the first member school to forfeit.
The lawsuit explicitly states that Boise State “decided not to play the SJSU Team in protest of Fleming’s participation on the SJSU Team,” noting that Idaho Gov. Brad Little publicly supported the choice.
Despite the polarization surrounding the issue, crowds in Las Vegas remained mild Wednesday. There were no protests and no signs.
The public-address announcer gave a pregame speech about respect that is recited before every competition hosted by a Mountain West school.
Contact Callie Fin at cfin@reviewjournal.com. Follow @CallieJLaw on X.