Utah State University has become the fourth school to withdraw from its match against the San Jose State University women’s volleyball squad, an undefeated team at the center of a transgender-athlete uproar.
“Utah State University will not participate in its scheduled October 23, 2024, volleyball match at San Jose State University,” said Utah State in a Wednesday statement on its website. “The University will abide by Mountain West Conference policy regarding how this match is recorded.”
The decision follows that of three other universities — Southern Utah, Boise State and Wyoming — to refuse to play the Spartans, whose starting line-up includes redshirt senior Blaire Fleming, a player identified by multiple sources as a male-to-female transgender student.
San Jose State has not commented publicly on the forfeits or on Fleming’s gender identity. The Washington Times has reached out to the university for comment.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said he supports the decisions by Southern Utah and Utah State, blasting the NCAA for failing to “protect our female student athletes.”
“I stand with the students, coaches and leadership at @SUUtbirds and @USUAggies in their decision to forgo their women’s volleyball matches against San Jose State,” the Republican governor said on X.
“It is essential that we preserve a space for women to compete fairly and safely,” he said. “Our female athletes are left grappling with this difficult issue because the NCAA has failed in its responsibility to protect female athletes and women’s sports. It’s time for the NCAA to take this seriously and protect our female student athletes.”
Boise State, Wyoming and Utah State took forfeits, while Southern Utah, which is not a Mountain West member, declined to play in a non-conference match that was recorded as “canceled.”
I stand with the students, coaches and leadership at @SUUtbirds and @USUAggies in their decision to forgo their women’s volleyball matches against San Jose State.
— Utah Gov. Spencer J. Cox (@GovCox) October 3, 2024
It is essential that we preserve a space for women to compete fairly and safely. Our female athletes are left…
San Jose State plays in the Mountain West Conference, an NCAA Division I program. The NCAA allows male-born players who identify as female to play women’s sports based on gender identity under the policies of the national governing bodies of their particular sports.
Marshi Smith, co-founder of the Independent Council on Women’s Sports, or ICONS, responded by thanking the Utah governor and reiterating the organization’s call for the NCAA to bar biological males from female collegiate athletics.
“Thank you for supporting women!” she said on X. “@NCAA, how many people need to call you out before you do the bare minimum — ensuring men aren’t taking women’s scholarships or injuring them on the court?”
Last month, Fleming’s teammate Brooke Slusser, a senior co-captain of the San Jose State team, joined a lawsuit filed by All-American swimmer Riley Gaines and other female athletes challenging the NCAA’s transgender-eligibility policy.
“Brooke Slusser describes terrorizing practices and games in which a man is smashing volleyballs into the faces and bodies of young women at speeds of over 80 mph and making a mockery of fair competition,” said ICONS in a Sept. 24 letter to Mountain West university presidents.
The letter urged the universities to withdraw from their games against San Jose State, accusing the NCAA and by extension the universities of violating Title IX.
San Jose State is off to a hot start, accumulating a 9-0 record to start the season and making the Spartans squad “one of four Division I undefeated teams on the season,” the California school states.
Fleming has the second-most kills and points on the team, trailing only redshirt sophomore Nayeli Ti’a.
Idaho, Utah and Wyoming are among the 25 states that bar biological males from competing based on gender identity in female scholastic sports.
But on Thursday, San Jose State not only played its scheduled game against Colorado State University, but the rival Rams alluded to the controversy on the other side.
The match will be Colorado State’s “annual inclusive excellence game,” according to the school’s website.
Democratic Gov. Jared Polis also signed a bill last year making Colorado a “transgender sanctuary” state.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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