The Boise State women’s volleyball team has already informed San Jose State that it plans to forfeit the second match between the two schools scheduled for November 21, OutKick has learned.
As OutKick’s Alejandro Avila exclusively reported in September, the Broncos were the first Mountain West school to forfeit a match against the Spartans due to the presence of transgender player Blaire Fleming.
Since then, three conference opponents have followed suit: Wyoming, Utah State and Nevada.
There were questions, though, whether teams scheduled to face SJSU twice would forfeit both matches, especially given the tight race in the Mountain West.
The answer for Boise State is yes. Despite directly harming its chances of reaching the conference tournament, the Broncos are not willing to face San Jose State and Blaire Fleming.
A San Jose State spokesperson told OutKick they received a statement from Boise State on Friday.
“Boise State volleyball will not play its scheduled home game on Thursday, Nov. 21 against San Jose State. Per Mountain West Conference policy, the Conference will record the game as a loss for Boise State,” the statement read.
Among the teams that lost against San Jose State, only Boise State and Wyoming had to play the Spartans twice.
The game between Wyoming and San Jose, scheduled for November 14 in San Jose, is currently ongoing.
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It’s hard to overstate what the loss means to Boise State. After beating Nevada on Saturday, the Broncos moved to 7-6 in the Mountain West.
They are currently in sixth place in the conference. Only six teams advance to the Mountain West tournament, which begins Nov. 27.
Taking the decisive loss, Boise State’s second loss of the season, shows how committed the Broncos are to sticking to the principle of not contesting a match against a biological man, even if it shortens its season and ends its dreams of reaching the volleyball tournament of NCAA Division I.