By james art An upcoming controversial NCAA women’s volleyball game will move its location more than 200 miles from Reno, Nevada, to California’s Bay Area.
San Jose State’s upcoming game against the University of Nevada has been at the center of a national debate over transgender inclusion in women’s sports. And now, a game previously scheduled to be played on Nevada’s home campus will be played at Yosh Uchida Hall in San Jose.
“The women’s volleyball game between Nevada and San Jose State University, scheduled for Saturday, October 26, has been moved from Reno, Nevada to San Jose, California. The decision to relocate the game was made in the best interest of both programs and the welfare of the student-athletes, coaches, athletic staff and spectators. The decision was made with the approval of the Mountain West Conference,” said a joint statement obtained by Fox News Digital. from both San Jose State and Nevada spokespeople.
There is no guarantee that this match will be played at all.
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Nevada Wolf Pack women’s volleyball players with Sam Brown and Tulsi Gabbard. (Sam Brown Campaign)
Nevada’s players have expressed their desire not to play the game, both personally to their athletic director and publicly to the press. San Jose State has a player who identifies as transgender and another player sued by the NCAA for never being informed that her teammate was biologically male. But the program has not officially pulled the match, citing state law.
However, San Jose State will need to be in the game to get a win for the loss if Nevada ends up missing players. By moving the game to the San Jose State campus, the Spartan players will not have to travel to Nevada to secure the loss. So by making this change, San Jose State will be able to claim a forfeit if none of Nevada’s players choose to play without leaving their home state.
Meanwhile, Nevada’s players will be just two days removed from traveling to Boise State in Idaho. OutKick has learned that the Wolf Pack will now travel to San Jose State immediately after their game in Idaho due to the location change, despite the fact that the players have expressed their intent not to play San Jose State.
Four other opposing programs lost their games against the Spartans amid the ongoing controversy. Southern Utah, Boise State, Wyoming and Utah State have all officially dropped their scheduled games against San Jose State. By officially waiving those games, unlike Nevada, no logistical changes were necessary, and San Jose State earned the forfeit victory without having to go anywhere.
Meanwhile, security concerns and threats against San Jose State players have made traveling to games a high-risk endeavor for the Lady Spartans. San Jose State previously confirmed to Fox News Digital that police security had been assigned to the team, shortly after receiving the first news of losing a rival when Southern Utah announced it would not play its game against the Spartans in September.
San Jose State player Brooke Slusser has joined a lawsuit brought by OutKick host and former collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines against the NCAA over its gender identity policy. Slusser joined the lawsuit because she claims she had to share a court, locker room and even a room on overnight trips with teammate Blair Fleming, without ever being told that Fleming was a biological male.
Slusser previously told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview that this led to threats against her.
“One of my teammates got a DM saying that she, and then my team, should stay away from me on the day of the Colorado State game because it wouldn’t be a good situation for me and my team had to keep his distance,” Slusser told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview. “They had to keep their distance from me during the game because something was going to happen to me.
“This was the first physical threat where we could easily see that they wanted to physically harm one of us.
INSIDE SAN JOSE STATE POLICE’S BATTLE TO PROTECT ATHLETES ENDANGERED BY TRANS CULTURE WAR
Colorado State University police behind the San Jose State University Spartans bench monitor Moby Arena during an NCAA Mountain West women’s volleyball game between the Spartans and the Colorado State Rams in Fort Collins, Colo., Thursday, Oct. 03, 2024. (Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
That led to an increased police presence during the Spartans’ game at Colorado State on Oct. 3, as San Jose State confirmed to Fox News Digital that it had to coordinate police protection for its players with other universities during away games.
During a game against the Air Force Academy last weekend, security at the Cadet East Gym on the Air Force campus in Colorado was so alert it even led to controversial footage of an alleged interaction between a fan and a security guard.
A fan who attended the game claimed that Air Force security made anyone wearing a T-shirt protesting the inclusion of transgender people in women’s sports cover the messages if they wanted to go inside to watch the game. Other witnesses told Fox News Digital that they saw similar incidents happen.
“Air Force Athletics takes the necessary measures to ensure a safe environment at all home sporting events for players, coaches, staff and fans,” an Air Force spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
San Jose State had to travel all the way to Reno later this week to play the Wolfpack, with no guarantee that any Nevada players would be on the court. Nevada told Fox News Digital that its players will not be disciplined for refusing to compete in the upcoming game.
But Nevada said it could not cancel their upcoming game due to state laws, the program previously told Fox News Digital.
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Front left, San Jose State setter Brooke Slusser celebrates after scoring a point with libero Randilyn Reeves, outside hitter Blair Fleming and libero Alessia Buffani during the first set of an NCAA college volleyball match against Colorado State, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024 in Fort Collins, Colorado. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
“The university made the decision not to announce a forfeiture and to continue hosting the game as planned based on several factors. As a public university, the university is legally prohibited by Section 24 of the Nevada Constitution and other laws and regulations from declaring a withdrawal for reasons related to gender identity or expression,” a Nevada spokesperson said.
The Nevada state constitution was revised in 2022 when Nevada voted to adopt the Equal Rights Amendment, which added gender identity to the list of protections. Nevada state Sen. Pat Spearman, a North Las Vegas Democrat who co-sponsored the bill to get it on the ballot, said the law helped transgender people maintain their identities.
So losing a game against San Jose State would violate Nevada state law. The other four programs that have already officially forfeited their games against transgender players are based in states that do not have such laws. In fact, Idaho, where Boise State is based, actually has a state law that prevents the inclusion of transgender people in women’s sports.
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