San Jose State, mired in controversy, loses in Mountain West final

Colorado State beat San Jose State in the Mountain West volleyball title game Saturday at UNLV’s Cox Pavilion.

With the 27-25, 25-20, 23-25, 25-16 win, the top-seeded Rams earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament and ended a season filled with protests against the Spartans amid a national controversy surrounding the participation of transgender athletes in sports.

Conference player of the year Malaya Jones led Colorado State with a game-high 26 kills.

Blaire Fleming had 17 kills for the Spartans, working with co-captain Brooke Slusser, who had 34 assists.

Slusser is a plaintiff in two lawsuits in which she claimed Fleming should have been removed from the team on the allegation that she is transgender.

It was San Jose State’s first game of the tournament. During the regular season, the team received six forfeit wins from four Mountain West teams (Boise State, Utah State, Wyoming and UNR). Per Mountain West policy, those forfeitures counted as conference wins for the Spartans, helping them secure the No. 2 seed in the tournament, which came with a first-round bye.

After No. 6 Boise State upset No. 3 Utah State to advance to the semifinals, the Broncos forfeited to San Jose State for a third time, giving the Spartans a path straight to the championship game.

Colorado State played all of its scheduled games against San Jose State, going 1-1 in the regular season.

San Jose State coach Todd Kress released a statement after the loss.

“I will not sugarcoat our reality for the last two months,” he said. “Our team prepared and was ready to play each match according to established Mountain West and NCAA rules of play. We did not take away anyone’s participation opportunities. Sadly, others who for years have played this same team without incident chose not to play us this season.

“To be clear, we did not celebrate a single win by forfeiture. 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.

“I am thankful for those of you who took the time to share your support and messages that recognize our players and their fortitude. Like you, I am enormously proud of this team and I am enormously proud to be the coach of these resilient women.”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Contact Callie Fin at cfin@reviewjournal.com. Follow @CallieJLaw on X.