The San Jose State women’s volleyball team’s game at Nevada later this month has been called off after Wolf Pack players reportedly voted not to play against the Spartans as a stand in the debate about transgender athletes in women’s sports.
Nevada is the fifth school to forfeit a match against the Spartans this season.
According to OutKick.com, the Nevada players in an exclusive statement to the site wrote, “We, the University of Nevada Reno women’s volleyball team, forfeit against San Jose State University and stand united in solidarity with the volleyball teams of Southern Utah University, Boise State University, the University of Wyoming, and Utah State University.
“We demand that our right to safety and fair competition on the court be upheld. We refuse to participate in any match that advances injustice against female athletes.”
San Jose State officials confirmed the scheduled Oct. 26 game in Reno will not be played.
Requests for comment to the Nevada athletic department were not immediately returned. A week ago, the school said in a statement to OutKick that it “intends to play its remaining Mountain West schedule, including the matchup with San Jose State.” As of Tuesday afternoon the game was still scheduled on the Wolf Pack team web site.
San Jose State, in a statement, said, “We continue to be disappointed that our SJSU student athletes, who are in full compliance with NCAA and Mountain West rules and regulations, are being denied opportunities to compete. We remain committed to supporting all of our student athletes — including their physical safety and mental health, both on and off the court—during this challenging time. We continue to work to ensure their ability to participate in an inclusive, fair, and respectful environment.”
Schools that previously refused to play the Spartans — fellow Mountain West conference members Boise State, Wyoming and Utah State, and Southern Utah, which opted out of a tournament game against SJSU in September — did not say why they were forfeiting their matches. But San Jose State player Brooke Slusser joined a lawsuit earlier this month and said she has a transgender teammate who, she argued, has physical advantages over other women athletes. This news organization is not identifying the player named in the lawsuit.
Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon supported the university’s stance by saying, in part, “it is important we stand for integrity and fairness in female athletics” in a post on Twitter/X.
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SJSU head coach Todd Kress acknowledged Thursday after his team’s match against San Diego State that people have been sending “disgusting” hate mail to members of the team via social media platforms, texts and phone messages.
“The people who are sending those messages, I think they need to wake up, look at themselves in the mirror and really question who they are as human beings,” Kress said. “Is their end game to try to damage the mental health of 18-, 19- and 20-year-old females?”
The Spartans are 9-3 overall and 4-3 in Mountain West play. SJSU, which has lost the past three matches it has played, including two at home last week, are scheduled to play at New Mexico on Thursday and at Air Force on Saturday. Because of upcoming forfeits by Utah State and Nevada, the Spartans will not play again until Halloween night at home against Air Force.
“We’re day by day, and we’ve kind of learned to roll with the punches,” Kress said Thursday after playing against San Diego State. “We don’t take anything for granted when we get a chance to play.”