San Jose State’s volleyball season that ignited debate over gender in sports ends in MW title match

AP Sports Writer

LAS VEGAS (AP) — San Jose State’s volleyball team, the subject of a national debate about participation in women’s sports, was beaten by Colorado State 27-25, 25-20, 23-25, 25-16 in Saturday’s Mountain West tournament final, ending the Spartans’ season.

The Rams (20-10) received the conference’s automatic bid to the 64-team NCAA Tournament.

San Jose State’s season was marked by forfeits, limited protests and the topic of gender identity becoming a political issue in an election year. The Spartans were 14-6.

“I will not sugarcoat our reality for the last two months,” Spartans coach Todd Kress 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.”

The controversy didn’t end during the Mountain West tournament.

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 Broncos didn’t announce explicitly why they withdrew, a lawsuit was recently filed in Colorado by players from various schools against the conference and San Jose State officials calling 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, even naming her.

U.S. Magistrate Judge S. Kato Crews in Denver ruled Monday that the player was allowed to play, and a federal appeals court upheld the 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.

“This has been one of the most difficult seasons I’ve ever experienced and I know this is true as well for many of our players and the staff who have been supporting us all along,” Kress said. “Maintaining our focus on the court and ensuring the overall safety and well-being of my players amid the external noise have been my priorities.”

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, 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 the school has a trans women’s volleyball player. The Associated Press is withholding the player’s name because she has not publicly commented on her gender identity and through school officials has declined an interview request.

Participation of transgender women in women’s sports became a hot political topic ahead of the recent election.

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