San Jose State knows who it must beat to secure a spot in the NCAA women’s volleyball tournament.
The Spartans, who had a bye in the first round of the Mountain West tournament this week and advanced to the final on a forfeit, will play against No. 1-seeded Colorado State on Saturday for the conference title.
The Rams beat San Diego State in a semifinal match Friday afternoon in Las Vegas, three sets to one (20-25, 25-23, 25-21, 25-23).
San Jose State, the conference’s No. 2 seed, split its season series with Colorado State, losing via a sweep Oct. 3 in Fort Collins and beating the Rams in five sets in San Jose on Nov. 16.
Boise State forfeited the semifinal match late Wednesday night after beating Utah State in a quarterfinal. The Broncos did not explain why they forfeited, but they and four other opponents forfeited regular-season matches to the Spartans after a lawsuit filed in September by SJSU co-captain Brooke Slusser and others against the NCAA alleged that a transgender Spartans teammate had physical advantages over other players.
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A second lawsuit filed this month aimed to bar the player from the conference tournament and reconfigure the conference standings without the forfeits, but a judge denied that request on Monday. The judge’s decision was upheld by an appeal panel Tuesday.
The winner of Saturday’s conference final will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, which begins next weekend.