USU Volleyball forfeiture and response

The Utah State volleyball team announced Oct. 2 they would not participate in a match against San Jose State scheduled Oct. 23, sparking a nationwide debate. 

“The University will abide by Mountain West Conference policy regarding how this match is recorded,” the team wrote in a statement.

The game was recorded as an Aggies loss by forfeit. They joined Southern Utah, Boise State and Wyoming as the fourth team to forfeit a match with SJSU.

No reason was given by the university as to why the game was canceled, but it is presumed to be due to the Spartans having transgender athlete Blaire Fleming on their roster.

Fleming, a 6-foot-1 outside hitter, has helped lead the Spartans to a 10-3 start this season. She is currently first on the team, with 188 kills and 221 points.

Utah Gov. Spencer J. Cox applauded the school for its decision in a tweet.

“It is essential that we preserve a space for women to compete fairly and safely,” Cox said. “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.”

Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz echoed his support, reacting to the news in a post on X.

“To the Utah State and Southern Utah Women Volleyball teams: We stand behind you and are cheering you on!” Schultz wrote. “Thank you for standing up for not only yourselves, but for women across the country – current and future generations!”

In March of this year, the Independent Council on Women’s Sports filed a lawsuit against the NCAA over the allowance of transgender women in sports. Fleming’s teammate and SJSU co-captain Brooke Slusser has joined in on the ongoing suit.

“Slusser decides terrorizing practices and games in which a man is smashing volleyballs into the faces and bodies of young women at speeds of over 80 mph and making a mockery of fair competition,” ICONS said in a letter via Outkick.

Riley Gaines, former swimmer at the University of Kentucky and current political activist, voiced her approval of the university’s decision. Gaines’s activism began when she protested against sharing a locker with her transgender teammate Lia Thomas. Thomas became the first openly transgender woman champion in NCAA history after winning the 500-yard freestyle in 2022.

Gaines visited the USU volleyball team on Oct. 9 and delivered custom-made “Medals of Courage” to the players for their decision.

“I was able to spend some time with some of the Utah State women’s volleyball team that chose to forfeit their match against SJSU due to a man being permitted to play,” Gaines posted on X. “This type of leadership takes immense courage. BRAVO.”

Multiple Aggie players expressed their gratitude for Gaines’s support.

“Riley is an icon in this movement and to have her support is so surreal,” redshirt junior Kaylie Ray said via Outkick. “She has instilled us with this confidence we are doing the right thing and has gifted us the courage to keep standing up for the things we believe in. It’s never wrong to do the right thing.”

First-year player Kaylie Kofe also spoke with Outkick, echoing her teammate’s sentiments.

“Hearing [Riley] say how proud she was of us and instilling confidence in our decision to stand up for what is right really gave me comfort,” Kofe said. “There’s a lot of hate going around, but after talking to Riley, I can’t help but be proud of myself and my team for contributing and helping make a difference in this world.”

Utah State has received backlash for their decision, with many feeling that the forfeiture promotes discrimination.

“We are disappointed by the recent decision of Utah State University to cancel their volleyball match with San Jose State due to the participation of a transgender woman athlete,” the Utah Pride Center said in a statement. “We expect more out of our state’s institutions of higher learning, and consider positions like these uninformed and highly uneducated. Transgender athletes, like all athletes, deserve the right to compete in the sports they love, without fear of exclusion or discrimination.”

Several Utah State students have also spoken out in disagreement with the forfeiture. In a public Instagram post, Samson Calderón Diltz called for students to email university officials to protest the forfeiture. He later shared a response from Amanda DeRito, associate vice president of university marketing & communications.

“USU doesn’t care about inclusion,” Calderón Diltz wrote. “Now they’re about neutrality. And they’re breaking neutrality by forfeiting this game. If they were truly open to learning and evolving they would actually listen to their transgender students. USU has shown time and time again they do not care for their minority students.”

On Oct. 17, a group of staff submitted a letter to The Statesman in protest to the university’s decision.

“As Aggie sports fans, we stand in solidarity with all women athletes,” the signatories wrote. “There is no evidence that trans women athletes have an advantage over cisgender women athletes and, in fact, the range of athletic ability among trans women parallels the range found in cis women. In other words, trans women earn their spots on their teams the same way cis women do.”

The signatories made note of the fact that USU had already played SJSU four times in 2022 and 2023, all while Fleming was on the roster. They also cited a 2021 survey conducted by human rights organization GLSEN that found that transgender kids are more likely to face hostile schooling environments.

In a written statement, SJSU spokesperson Michelle Smith McDonald said that university police are providing security for the team at home and road games.

“It is disappointing that our SJSU student-athletes are being denied opportunities to compete,” wrote Smith McDonald. “We are committed to supporting our student-athletes through these challenges and in their ability to compete in an inclusive, fair, safe and respectful environment.”

At the time of writing, the Aggies volleyball team currently has a record of 8-11.