What is happening at San Jose State right now is more inevitable than stunning. Throughout this season, several Mountain West Conference teams have forfeited playing the Lady Spartans women’s volleyball team, after allegations of a transgender player surfaced.
The player in question has not been named by the media or San Jose State University, due to federal privacy laws. Those laws are upheld even after a lawsuit was filed by 10 current and former MWC players, in addition to San Jose State’s own associate head coach and senior co-captain.
There are over a half million female student athletes in the NCAA right now. Transgender athletes account for fewer than 50.
The lawsuit, filed back on November 13, is seeking to have the player ruled ineligible, and thus would have victories by San Jose State vacated for the 2024 women’s volleyball season. The Spartans sit at 14-6 overall, 14-4 in conference play, which is good enough for the second seed in the MWC Tournament, which began Wednesday. The Spartans finished tied with Fresno State, and split the season series at one match a piece.
What no one notices right away are the six conference wins that San Jose State has from opponents forfeiting the match, rather than play against a trans athlete. Boise State forfeited regular season matches on September 28 and November 21. Wyoming backed out of their October 5 match, then again on November 14. Utah State followed suit on October 23. Lastly, Nevada forfeited on October 26. After their October 19 victory at Air Force, San Jose State did not have another match until Halloween night, also against Air Force.
After their quarterfinal victory against Utah State on Wednesday, Boise State elected to end their season by forfeiting in advance of a semifinal matchup against the Spartans on Friday.
On Monday, United State District Judge S. Kato Crews denied the motion to have the player ruled ineligible. An appeal in federal court upheld the decision on Tuesday.
Brooke Slusser, currently a senior, is drawing the most attention with this story as of late, and not by her play on the court. An All-MWC honorable mention in 2023 after transferring from Alabama, Slusser is reported to have been the player to out her teammate, and joined the lawsuit back on September 23. If you visit the San Jose State Spartans official website, you will see an NIL link next to all players who are involved, which includes Slusser. Autographs for Slusser start at $55, a Cameo-like video recording starts at $26, and an appearance at your team’s event or practice will set you back starting at $59.
To the surprise of no one, Slusser appeared on Fox in late October to declare that the NCAA is “slowly killing women’s sports.” In keeping “girl power” alive and well for talking out of both sides of your mouth, Slusser appeared on both Laura Ingraham and Megyn Kelly’s shows, spouting off more of the anti-trans rhetoric that will infect our daily lives this January. Notice that most of the forfeits came in the immediate aftermath of when Slusser joined the lawsuit. Slusser, a player currently under scholarship, indicated that the teammate possesses a very powerful swing and jump, which led to a number of bruises in practice. Her claims that her teammates and university advised not to mention the issue have become an “elephant in the room.”
Draw whatever idiom you choose from that.
Further elaborating, Slusser indicated this is the reason why there are men’s and women’s divisions in sports, leading to her rights and safety being jeopardized.
The NCAA has established different rules for all sports contested under their banner, both men’s and women’s. All students must remain in good academic standing, but the NCAA adheres to the parameters set forth by the individual sport’s governing body. For women’s volleyball, all athletes must have testosterone levels that register under 10 nanomoles per liter. As the athlete reportedly began transitioning at a younger age, the NCAA never found a result registering over 10, thus the player is admissible to play.
Slusser has unfortunately become the latest version of Riley Gaines, the former Kentucky swimmer that has been championing against transgender athletes since 2022. Gaines, now a right-wing political activist, began her “crusade” after finishing tied for fifth with Lia Thomas in the 200-yard freestyle at the NCAA Championships. Thomas, openly transgender, won the 500-yard freestyle at the same competition, becoming the first trans swimmer to do so in NCAA history. It has been reported that Gaines and Seth Dillon had been paying off female athletes to forfeit the games against San Jose State. Dillon, the owner of The Babylon Bee, a Christian conservative trash rag publication far less entertaining than The Onion, admitted as much on social media. Of course the Bee will claim that their readership has overtaken The Onion, as that is all their kind do…pull numbers out of their head in lieu of facts.
The university has no mention of the forfeits, except by “No Contest, W in MW Play” on the schedule page. There is also no mention in their weekly “This Week in Spartan Sport” review…as they should not be. A victory still counts, and why report on what everyone else is saying nationally?
As Slusser graduates after this season, the story will likely die down just long enough for Gaines to make it a focal point on her soapbox, whether we want to hear it or not. You can almost bet that Slusser will make an appearance or two at some point.
-JC24