Two weeks ago, the co-captain of the San Jose State women’s volleyball team joined a federal lawsuit challenging the NCAA’s transgender athlete participation policy.
Brooke Slusser advocated for the disqualification of a volleyball teammate who was allegedly born male but now identifies as a transgender woman. Slusser argued in the legal filing that the player hits the ball with such power that it gives San Jose State “an unfair advantage” and poses a safety risk to other players during practices and games.
Those comments from Slusser added fuel to an already latent controversy. Activists have attacked San Jose State, conservative politicians have weighed in, and now three Mountain West schools have lost games to the Spartans rather than take the field against a player they believe is transgender.
On the eve of their Sept. 28 game at San Jose State, Boise State issued a 48-word statement revealing that he would not gamble and accept a lost loss. Wyoming and Utah State lost games this week against the Spartans later this month. In each case, the schools chose not to explain why they were not playing. In each case, the announcements were followed by a social media post from a state governor applauding the decision.
“It is essential that we preserve a space for women to compete fairly and safely,” said Utah Governor Spencer J. Cox. wrote in X after Utah State’s announcement Wednesday night. “Our athletes have to deal with this difficult issue because the NCAA has failed in its responsibility to protect women’s athletes and women’s sports. “It’s time for the NCAA to take this seriously.”
In response to the losses, San Jose State released a statement saying, “It is disappointing that our SJSU student-athletes, who are in full compliance with NCAA and Mountain West rules and regulations, are being denied the opportunity to compete.” “. The Spartans began the week with a perfect 9-0 record before suffering their first loss of the season at Colorado State on Thursday night with reporters from a half-dozen local and national media outlets in attendance.
Before the game, San Jose State coach Todd Kress approached Colorado State coach Emily Kohan and said, “Should I thank you for playing against us?” Kress told reporters in Colorado Springs later that night that he “meant it” because the losses are hurting not only San Jose State players but also opposing players “who have earned the right to get into the court and play.”
“We’re in a position where it seems like government and politics have become intertwined with college sports,” Kress said, adding that he prefers college sports to be a “safe haven” from government intervention.
Yahoo Sports has chosen not to name the reportedly transgender San Jose State player because she has not spoken publicly about her gender identity. San Jose State does not address any student’s gender identity, citing federal privacy laws.
The presence of the allegedly transgender player had not been reported and had never been an issue for San Jose State women’s volleyball opponents prior to this season. The 6-foot-1 former Coastal Carolina transfer appeared in 27 games for the Spartans during the 2022 season and 17 while battling injuries last season. He never made an all-conference team before this season, nor was he among the Mountain West leaders in kills or kill percentage.
San Jose State finished 13-18 last season and won just four Mountain West games. On November 9, 2023, Utah State swept San Jose State with the player in question in the Spartans’ starting lineup. Two days later, Boise State followed suit.
It wasn’t just opponents who didn’t suspect that San Jose State had a transgender player last year. Neither did some of his teammates.
Slusser transferred from Alabama to San Jose State in the fall of 2023 and was assigned a dorm room with the allegedly transgender player and other teammates. The two used to be roommates on road trips, according to the legal complaint, during the 2023-24 season.
Last April, Reduxx published a story alleging that a San Jose State volleyball player was transgender and had hidden her biological sex from teammates and opponents. The conservative media outlet said it had begun reporting the story after receiving a tip from the mother of an opposing player.
The day the story broke, the San Jose State player revealed to Slusser that she was transgender over lunch, according to the lawsuit. San Jose State officials also held a meeting with the women’s volleyball team urging players not to speak publicly about a teammate’s gender identity and to let that player tell her own story.
The lawsuit alleges that San Jose State failed to inform any of its incoming women’s volleyball recruits that it allegedly had a transgender athlete on the team even though “this was now a well-known fact to the athletics department and virtually all others at SJSU.” Slusser also claimed that the supposedly transgender player’s spikes in practice were traveling “faster than he had ever seen a woman hit a volleyball.”
“Many of the girls on the team spoke to Brooke about their fears of being hit by balls spiked by (the player),” the lawsuit reads.
Under pressure to satisfy activists on both sides of the issue, the NCAA over the past three years has updated its transgender athlete participation policy to align with the Olympic movement. Transgender athletes must undergo testosterone testing and reach sport-specific levels to compete in NCAA women’s sports.
Those adjustments come at a time when transgender rhetoric has intensified. In July, Elon Musk raged against the “awakened mind virus” that “killed” his transgender daughter, who he said transitioned during the pandemic. Former President Donald Trump has spoken of “transgender madness” and raised fears that educators are “grooming” or “indoctrinating” children to become gay or transgender during the school day.
San Jose State women’s volleyball drew criticism as early as early September when it beat Iowa for a rare victory over a Big Ten foe. Controversy has escalated since Slusser joined the lawsuit against the NCAA and the local and national media descended.
So far, no other Mountain West opponent has forfeited. The next opponent, San Diego State, says it intends to face the Spartans next Thursday in San Jose.
“We are ready to play and are committed to supporting our student-athletes,” San Diego State said in a statement.
When asked if he expects more cancellations, Kress said he won’t speculate. He described this San Jose State team as one of the favorites he has ever coached.
“We have differences, right?” said. “I mean, we have differences within our locker room, in our team meetings, that kind of thing, but still, when we go out on the court, we love each other and we respect each other, we respect our differences. “I’m not sure any team I’ve coached in the past will be able to handle some of the external pressures we’ve had to deal with, but we’ve done an incredible job of doing it.”