Utah State is fourth school to forfeit women's volleyball match amid San Jose State trans player controversy
The Utah State Aggies are the latest women’s volleyball team to choose not to participate in a scheduled match against San Jose State University due to a biological male playing on its women’s team.
The university issued a statement saying it would not be participating in its Oct. 23 volleyball match at SJSU.
"The University will abide by Mountain West Conference policy regarding how this match is recorded," the statement said.
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A volleyball net during the Division III women's volleyball championship at the U.S. Cellular Center Nov. 23, 2019, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (Jack Dempsey/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
A San Jose State spokeperson also confirmed to Fox News Digital that the Aggies informed the team the match has been canceled, and Utah State will be assessed a loss due to forfeit.
Utah State would be the fourth team to forfeit a match with SJSU if it's made official. Southern Utah, Boise State and the University of Wyoming all did so. None of the three schools previously provided a reason behind the forfeit other than understanding the consequences to their win-loss records.
When Boise State forfeited its match with SJSU, the NCAA provided OutKick with a statement in response.
"College sports are the premier stage for women’s sports in America, and the NCAA members will continue to promote Title IX, make unprecedented investments in women’s sports and ensure fair competition for all student-athletes in all NCAA championships."
FEMALE ATHLETES ‘BLINDSIDED’ ON VOLLEYBALL COURT WITH TRANS PLAYER PROMPTS CIVIL RIGHTS COMPLAINT, LAWSUIT
Blaire Fleming, a transgender redshirt senior at SJSU, has been at the center of the controversial forfeits. SJSU is undefeated this season, and Fleming, at 6-foot-1, has helped the Spartans in their efforts.
Brooke Slusser, Fleming’s teammate, joined former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines and other female athletes who are suing the NCAA over policies regarding transgender athletes, claiming the current system is compromising the fairness and integrity of women’s sports and putting women at risk.
Gaines said she commended Boise State’s athletic department and everyone involved in the decision to forfeit its match, and she praised Utah State when seeing the statement before it was taken down.
Blaire Fleming, a redshirt senior at San Jose State University, plays as an outside and right-side hitter on the women’s volleyball team. (San Jose State University)
"This kind of unity is what I (and many others who have worked far longer than me) have been pushing for over the past two years," Gaines tweeted. "The gender ideology house of cards is crumbling, and it’s a glorious sight."
Speaker of the Utah House of Representatives Mike Schultz also commended the Utah State and Southern Utah women’s volleyball teams.
"We stand behind you and are cheering you on!" he wrote on X. "Thank you for standing up for not only yourselves, but for women across the country – current and future generations! It’s time for the NCAA to take action to protect our female athletes and preserve women’s sports. Thank you to the athletes and the universities for doing what’s right!"
Macy Petty, a Concerned Women of America legislative assistant and NCAA volleyball player, spoke with Fox News Digital’s Sarah Rumpf-Whitten about how players are feeling "blindsided" because the NCAA has not informed teams of the presence of transgender players on opposing squads.
"There's no informed consent for the schools or for the female athletes here. They're totally blindsided when they walk up to the court, and they see that there's a male athlete on the other side," Petty said.
"Female athletes were put in this odd position of showing up on the court and looking at the other side and realizing that something was different about this game. I've never seen an athlete play like this before, which makes total sense considering that this athlete, first of all, is not female, but the net is seven inches shorter than it should be for male players."
NCAA volleyballs at the Division I men's volleyball championship at the Walter Pyramid May 4, 2019, in Long Beach, Calif. (John W. McDonough/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
Slusser said she joined Gaines and others in the lawsuit against the NCAA because she was not aware Fleming was transgender despite sharing rooms together on team trips.
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"Brooke estimates that Fleming’s spikes were traveling upward of 80 mph, which was faster than she had ever seen a woman hit a volleyball," Slusser’s complaint said, via the Cowboy State Daily. "The girls were doing everything they could to dodge Fleming’s spikes but still could not fully protect themselves."
Fox News' Jackson Thompson and Paulina Dedaj contributed to this report.
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