The Utah State women’s volleyball team is set to forfeit its match against San Jose State in what appears to be a protest of NCAA rules allowing transgender women to play.
“The university will abide by Mountain West Conference policy regarding how this match is recorded,” USU said in a statement on its website Wednesday. That statement was later deleted, but SJSU confirmed the cancellation to The San Francisco Chronicle.
Utah State would be the fourth team — after Southern Utah, Boise State and Wyoming — to forfeit a match against San Jose State this season.
The USU athletic department did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the reason for not playing the match scheduled for Oct. 23.
But Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and other state politicians were quick to express their support.
“I stand with the students, coaches and leadership at [SUU] and [USU] in their decision to forgo their women’s volleyball matches against San Jose State,” Cox wrote in a statement on X.
“It is essential that we preserve a space for women to compete fairly and safely,” he continued. “Our female athletes are left grappling with this difficult issue because the NCAA has failed in its responsibility to protect female athletes and women’s sports. It’s time for the NCAA to take this seriously and protect our female student athletes.”
The forfeitures come after a San Jose State volleyball player joined a class-action suit over the NCAA’s Title IX gender policies, saying she did not want to play alongside a transgender athlete on her team.
San Jose State junior Brooke Slusser joined Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines in the lawsuit that alleges the NCAA is violating Title IX protections by allowing transgender athletes to participate in women’s sports, according to ABC News.
“If I have daughters and I had to sit there and watch them play against a male player, or be on a team with a male player, and knowing that I could have done something about it and didn’t, I think that would be a really hard situation for me to end up in,” Slusser told Outkick last week.
The NCAA’s current policy regarding transgender athletes is determined on a sport-by-sport basis by the national governing body of the sport, according to its website. In this case, that is USA Volleyball, which requires transgender athletes to notify the organization and to provide “sufficient documentation ... to determine that the applicant has taken the necessary steps to transition to their adopted gender.” That includes lab reports of testosterone levels for athletes over the age of 13.
Slusser and Gaines’ lawsuit has been met with opposition from the American Civil Liberties Union and other human rights advocacy institutions.
“We feel called upon to defend against extremist attacks on our trans sisters – attacks that weaponize and distort the language of women’s rights to justify discrimination and bigotry,” Shiwali Patel, a director at the National Women’s Law Center, said in a news release.
After Boise State announced it would not play its match against the Spartans, SJSU issued this statement: “It is disappointing that our SJSU student athletes, all of who are in full compliance with NCAA and Mountain West rules and regulations, are being denied opportunities to compete. We are committed to supporting our student athletes through these challenges and in their ability to compete in an inclusive, safe and respectful environment.”
Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz (R-Hooper) issued a statement in support of the forfeitures on Wednesday.
“To the Utah State and Southern Utah Women Volleyball teams: We stand behind you and are cheering you on! Thank you for standing up for not only yourselves, but for women across the country – current and future generations!” he wrote on X.
This developing story will be updated.
