A look at key dates before and during the San Jose State women’s volleyball season. The Spartans are 14-6, plus six wins via forfeit by four schools in the Mountain West Conference regular season. Some players cited fairness in women’s sports as a reason for not playing, with plaintiffs claiming in a lawsuit earlier this year that there is a transgender player on the San Jose State team.
Second-seeded San Jose State was scheduled to play in the semifinals of the Mountain West Tournament on Friday against No. 6 seed Boise State, which announced hours after its victory over No. 3 Utah State that it would withdraw from the Las Vegas event and forfeit the match even if an NCAA Tournament berth may be on the line.
Now, San Jose State automatically advances to Saturday’s championship game against top-seeded Colorado State or No. 5-seeded San Diego State, both of which faced the Spartans this season.
- March 14: Former Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines was among more than a dozen college athletes who filed a lawsuit against the NCAA in Atlanta, accusing the governing body of violating their Title IX rights by allowing transgender woman Lia Thomas to compete. to compete in the national championships in 2022 San Jose State senior setter and co-captain Brooke Slusser, an Alabama transfer from Denton, Texas, later joined the court case.
- September 14: Southern Utah becomes the first team to forfeit a game against San Jose State without saying why. It was a non-conference game.
- September 27: Boise State releases a statement announcing that the women’s volleyball team will not play at San Jose State on September 28, but it does not provide further information on why the decision was made. The school also forfeited its second game against San Jose State on November 21.
- September 27: Idaho Governor Brad Little publicly supported the school, posting on the social media platform to ensure player safety for all our female athletes and continue the fight for fairness in women’s sports.”
- October 3: After initial losses, San Jose State is defeated at Colorado State, a Rams sweep that marked the Spartans’ first loss after a 9-0 start. San Jose State later defeated Colorado State at home on Halloween.
- October 5: Two days later, the Spartans get another losing win against Wyoming, which opted not to play again on November 14.
- October 23: Utah State forfeits a game against San Jose State.
- November 15: The Mountain West Conference concluded there was insufficient evidence to establish misconduct between women’s volleyball players from the Colorado State and San Jose State programs prior to the October 3 game at Colorado State after a coach filed a Title IX complaint had filed accusing the student -athletes were trying to rig the game.
San Jose State head coach Melissa Batie-Smoose took her allegations to the conference on Oct. 29, according to Mountain West. Batie-Smoose has since left the team.
- November 25: A judge a request rejected created by nine current conference players to prevent the San Jose State player from participating in the Mountain West Tournament on the grounds that she is transgender. U.S. Magistrate S. Kato Crews in Denver denied an emergency injunction, finding that the players and others who questioned the league’s policy of allowing transgender athletes should have filed the complaint sooner.
- November 26: That ruling was upheld by an appeals court.
- November 27: The Boise State program announced it would not play the Spartans in the semifinals on Friday.
“The decision not to continue playing in the 2024 Mountain West Volleyball Championship tournament was not an easy one,” the school said in a statement. “Our team overcame losses to earn a spot in the tournament field and battled to victory over Utah State in the first round on Wednesday. They should not pass up this opportunity while waiting for a more thoughtful and better system that serves all athletes. “
- November 28: The Mountain West Conference releases its own statement on the tournament, saying: “Decisions to forfeit games are at the discretion of the institutions and will be considered a loss. San Jose State advances to the finals of the MW Women’s Volleyball Championship.”
