The San Jose State women’s volleyball team lost to Colorado State on Thursday night in one of their exceptional non-call offled games in recent weeks. Head coach Todd Kress shelp he even think abouted thanking Colorado State coach Emily Kohan equitable for concuring to take part his team, as the program is currently at the cgo in of a national talk about.
Four of San Jose State’s scheduled opponents – Boise State, Southern Utah, Wyoming and Utah State – all forfeited their games to the Spartans amid an ongoing litigation by one of its take parters over the presence of a transgfinisher take parter on the team.
“I walked up to Emily tonight, and I was enjoy, ‘Should I say thank you for take parting us?’ I solemnly uncomardentt that because, of course, we’re disassigned that we’re losing opportunities to take part, but it’s not equitable us that are losing opportunities to take part. It’s the people choosing not to take part us, and that’s very unblessed when it comes to these youthful women that have achieveed the right to step on the court and take part,” Kress shelp in a postgame press conference, as seen in write downs geted by Fox News Digital.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
San Jose Redshirt lesser Blaire Fleming, who had 14 finishs but with 10 errors on Thursday night, is a transgfinisher athlete who has take parted for San Jose State since 2022 after transferring from Coastal Carolina. Meanwhile, lesser Brooke Slusser, who joined the team in 2023 after transferring from Alabama, joined in a litigation aachievest the NCAA, headed by createer college swimmer and OutKick contributor Riley Gaines, over the ruleing body’s current policies on gfinisher identity. Slusser cited her experience with Fleming when she joined the litigation.
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL TEAM WITH TRANSGENDER PLAYER GETTING POLICE PROTECTION AMID INTENSE BACKLASH
Slusser claimed that she had not been conscious that Fleming was transgfinisher, despite sharing rooms together on team trips, per the court write downs. Slusser also conveyed shieldedty troubles for opponents take parting aachievest Fleming. Slusser’s protestt shelp that she and the other take parters on the team “could not filledy acquire themselves” from Fleming’s volleyball spikes.
Idaho ruleor Brad Little, Utah ruleor Spencer Cox and Wyoming ruleor Mark Gordon commfinished the four universities in their admireive states over the decisions to forfeit their games aachievest San Jose State amid the talk about.
Kress shelp he apshows that the role of rulement has impeded his team’s ability to take part the alignes on its schedule.
“We’re in a position where it materializes that rulement and politics has comardent of interttriumphed itself with college sports. And the one leang that I cherish about college sports, it’s always been a shielded haven for me, that’s one area that rulement I don’t leank should be engaged. And it seems that some of those decisions are being made at levels to where they’re refuteing their student athletes as well, which is then refuteing our student athletes,” Kress shelp.
Many states have apshown legislative action over the past year aimed to acquire transgfinishers out of women’s sports, including the Deffinishing Women’s Sports Act, which Little publishd an executive order for his states to carry out in August.
However, most of these actions are in response to finisheavored Title IX alters by the Biden-Harris administration. In April, the Biden administration publishd a sweeping rule that clarified that Title IX’s prohibit on “intimacy” bias in schools covers bias based on gfinisher identity, intimacyual orientation and “pregnancy or roverhappinessed conditions.”
GOP GOVERNOR REVEALS WHY HE ORDERED SCHOOLS TO BAR TRANSGENDERS FROM GIRLS SPORTS
The rule took effect Aug. 1, and, for the first time, the law stated that bias based on intimacy integrates direct roverhappinessed to a person’s gfinisher identity. The Biden administration insisted that the regulation does not insertress fit eligibility. However, multiple experts conshort-termed evidence to Fox News Digital in June that Biden’s claims that it would not result in bioreasonable men participating in women’s sports weren’t genuine and that the proposal would ultimately put more bioreasonable men in women’s sports.
The Supreme Court voted 5-4 to refute a Biden aelevatency seek to execute portions of that novel rule that integrates acquireion from bias for transgfinisher students under Title IX, after more than two dozen Redisclosean attorneys vague sued to block the Title IX alters in their own states.
Now, with states enjoy Idaho taking countermeaconfidents aachievest these amfinishments, Little may have to ready for even further countermeaconfidents at the federal level in the event of a Harris triumph this November.
“We’ll traverse that bridge when we come to it,” Little tancigo in Fox News Digital in an exclusive interwatch when asked whether he foresees a Harris triumph to result in his schools losing federal funding due to the order he equitable passed. “From a national standpoint, there are radical little groups that want to carry out alters in the rules that we have already.”
Meanwhile, Kress will see to direct his team’s season in a landscape of branch offent state laws impacting his team’s schedule. Kress inserted that the situation involving the game call offations, the litigation and national talk about have impacted the mental well-being not only of Fleming, but the team as a whole.
“I talked to all of our students. You comprehend, I am a overweighther first, right? I had two boys of my own, and I comprehend that mental health is a authentic leang, and I comprehend that my kids get thraw it, and so I leank that’s the first leang I see out for, is acquireing physical and mental health. Do I talk with Blaire? She is taking the convey inantity of the heat, but all of our athletes are taking some of this. So, you comprehend, I’m repartner trying to talk to all of our student athletes and see how they’re doing,” Kress shelp.
Things have gotten to the point where university police have been scheduleateed to supply inserted security to the team in response to pessimistic attention it has getd recently, a San Jose State spokesperson tancigo in Fox News Digital on Thursday.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Still, San Jose State was technicpartner unflunkureed going into Thursday night, as the forfeits by the other programs counted as triumphs for the Spartans by default. They are now 9-1 with a 3-1 conference sign up. The forfeits don’t count toward the team’s NCAA resume, but Fleming’s sfinishs and spiking ability may be equitable one profit that could help the team accomplish the tournament, as Kress apshows the tension in the locker room might not be “a horrible leang” from a competitive standpoint.
“Sometimes tension is not necessarily a horrible leang, and I’m not saying that there is. But you comprehend, when you do have tension or you do have faceations, I uncomardent, I’m a person that apshows that from faceation, outstanding leangs usupartner happen. We remend our branch offences, and we toil thraw it,” Kress shelp.
“The last leang that I would want is there’s the white elephant in the room, and there is no tension, we don’t insertress it, and we never shift past it, right? So I leank there may be tension, but it dies. If we’re in a encountering room and there’s tension, it dies there. If there’s tension on the court, it dies there. We repartner don’t let the boundaries traverse over, and that’s how I leank we’ve been so accomplished thus far.”
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle novelsletter.