Colorado State University’s women’s volleyball team beat San Jose State University to win the Mountain West Conference championship on Saturday. The victory was notable, not just for CSU’s win, but for the controversy around one of its opponent’s players.
In the days leading up to the championship match, the San Jose State’s volleyball team was at the center of lawsuits, forfeits and political discourse around women’s sports — as well as the participation of transgender athletes.
CSU, unlike several other teams in the conference, chose to play both a regular season game and the conference championship match against the team, despite inclusion of a transgender athlete on San Jose State’s team.
Earlier last week, Boise State forfeited its semifinal match against San Jose State in protest of the inclusion of that player on the San Jose State roster.
Boise State, which twice boycotted regular-season matches with San Jose State, pulled out of the conference tournament on Wednesday night, hours after it defeated Utah State to secure a spot against the Spartans in Friday’s semifinals.
While the Boise Broncos didn’t announce explicitly why they withdrew, players from various schools recently filed a lawsuit in Colorado against the Mountain West conference and San Jose State officials. The suit calls for a Spartans player to be blocked from participating in the tournament. They cited unspecified reports asserting there was a transgender player on the San Jose State volleyball team, naming her specifically.
U.S. Magistrate Judge S. Kato Crews in Denver ruled Monday that the player was allowed to play in the tournament, and a federal appeals court upheld that decision the following day.
San Jose State, which received six forfeit victories because of boycotts from opponents during the regular season, was seeded second in the conference tournament and received a first-round bye.
In addition to Boise State, Mountain West members Wyoming, Utah State and Nevada, as well as Southern Utah, canceled matches this season against the Spartans. Nevada’s players said they “refuse to participate in any match that advances injustice against female athletes,” without providing further details.
Colorado State chose to play San Jose State in the regular season and for the conference title, even with the uncertainty of what might await Saturday. It turned out to be a fairly routine day.
There were no protesters outside of Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, and there also were no noticeable signs of hostility directed from the crowd of about 100 in the championship match.
“We've talked about it every single week that we have to play with the extra noise and minimizing the time you spend on social media and maximizing the time we spend on our scouting report and controlling what we can control," Colorado State coach Emily Kohan said. “We can't control what the crowd's going to do, what lineups roll out there or what's going to happen. We can control the way we play on our side, and that's what we've done all year with any opponent we've played.”
While some media have reported those and other details, San Jose State has not confirmed whether the school has a trans women’s volleyball player. The Associated Press and CPR News are withholding the player’s name because she has not publicly commented on her gender identity and has declined an interview request through school officials.
“I will not sugarcoat our reality for the last two months,” San Jose State coach Todd Kress said in a statement issued by the athletic department. "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.”
CSU will now take part in the NCAA tournament to crown a national champion. Its first-round game in the tournament is Friday afternoon against Texas A&M.
