Transgender volleyball player Blaire Fleming was among those honored at the Mountain West postseason awards on Tuesday.
Fleming, who is a biological male, has been in the eye of a storm in recent months, with multiple opponents refusing to play San Jose State for safety reasons.
The redshirt senior is also at the center of a lawsuit involving her own teammates, who sued her head coach, the university and the Mountain West, demanding that Fleming be declared ineligible for the Conference tournament.
Meanwhile, San Jose State coach Melissa Batie-Smoose accused the school of trying to “silence” her after she was suspended following complaints about Fleming.
The NCAA also faces a class-action lawsuit from more than a dozen athletes, who accuse the organization of knowingly violating a law that prohibits discrimination based on sex.
On Tuesday, however, Fleming was named Honorable Mention All-Mountain West Team, along with teammate Brooke Slusser, who is involved in lawsuits over Fleming’s spot on the roster.
Transgender Volleyball Player Blaire Fleming Honored at Mountain West Awards
Several schools have refused to play women’s volleyball against the trans player from San José State
Brooke Slusser has spoken publicly about how Fleming’s inclusion has affected the team
Colorado State’s Malaya Jones was named Mountain West Player of the Year.
That’s despite being accused of conspiring with Fleming to lose a game (and “destroy” Stusser) during a game last month.
The awards came after a judge denied a last-minute attempt to ban Fleming from the conference championship tournament, as well as any potential future NCAA tournament games.
Judge Kato Crews ruled that the demand was “unreasonable” and would “risk confusion and disrupt months of planning and harm, at a minimum, (San Jose State) and other teams participating in the tournament.”
The decision sparked outrage from many people on social media, including former college swimmer Riley Gaines.
Gaines, an outspoken advocate for transgender women in women’s sports, said: ‘A federal judge just ruled in favor of a male athlete who has been injuring defenseless women in volleyball for years.
“It is time to remove those activist judges who refuse to respect the law as it was intended.”
Meanwhile, The Mountain West says it investigated the allegations against Jones and Fleming but could not find enough evidence to support them.
A judge denied a last-minute attempt to exclude Fleming from the conference championship
Critics called the investigation “hasty, sloppy, incomplete and biased.”
San Jose State has a bye to the conference tournament semifinals after their rivals lost seven games to the Spartans.
They will face either Utah State or Boise State, two of the teams that lost to them earlier this season.
Meanwhile, after being suspended, Batie-Smoose said: “I want to make sure I stand firm that only women should participate in women’s sports.”
‘I just want to protect women’s sport and protect our team members’