The San Jose State women’s volleyball team is eligible to play in the Mountain West Conference tournament with its full roster, a federal judge in Denver ruled Monday.
U.S. District Judge S. Kato Crews denied a motion filed by 12 plaintiffs against the Mountain West that disqualified an SJSU player and stripped the team of winnings.
gave The case was filed on November 13. By SJSU co-captain Brooke Silser, SJSU associate head coach Melissa Baty-Smoose, and 10 other current and former Mountain West volleyball players. It sought emergency injunctive relief to disqualify an SJSU volleyball player, who is allegedly transgender.
The Mountain West tournament is set to begin Wednesday in Las Vegas.
“All San Jose State University student-athletes are eligible to participate in their sports under NCAA and Mountain West Conference rules,” the university said in a statement. “We are pleased that the court rejected an eleventh-hour attempt to change these rules. Our team looks forward to competing in the Mountain West Volleyball Tournament this week.”
The volleyball player has not released her identity, and San Jose State has not commented on her identity due to federal privacy laws. ESPN is not naming the player.
In its decision, the staff did not weigh the justice or safety issues that the plaintiffs allege in the lawsuit. Instead, he ruled that the emergency nature of the hearing was unnecessary because Mountain West’s transgender participation policy was in effect through 2022 and that forfeiture teams were aware of the policy.
“The Court finds that the movants’ delay was not reasonable, there is no evidence that they were prevented from obtaining emergency relief in the first place, and now because of a mandatory injunction to resolve these complex issues. MWC is heavily burdened at number eleven,” the staff wrote.
A notice of appeal has been filed in the 10th Circuit Court in Denver. Attorney William Bock said the plaintiffs asked the Court of Appeals “to protect female volleyball players who are competing for conference championships.”
An appeal date has not been set.
Attorneys argued their case Thursday in Denver at the Byron G. Rogers Courthouse. Originally scheduled for an evidentiary hearing consisting of witness testimony, staff changed the hearing to only oral arguments from attorneys. Although there were no witnesses, several supporters of the plaintiff were present.
Four Mountain West teams — Boise State, Wyoming, Utah State and Nevada — lost games against San Jose State this season. Neither school has given a clear reason for the withdrawal, but Nevada players held a rally in Reno on Oct. 26 advocating for the exclusion of transgender women from women’s sports. Southern Utah University of the Western Athletic Conference was the first team to decline to play SJSU when it canceled its Sept. 14 game.
Utah Gov. At Spencer Cox’s request, Utah State intervened to partially support the lawsuit, arguing that the Mountain West’s transgender athlete policy violates Title IX and seeking injunctive relief that would bar the conference from the upcoming conference tournament. I will stop enforcing this policy.
The athlete in question has played for San Jose State for the past three seasons.
On September 23, Silser announced that he had joined a lawsuit against the NCAA, stating that his teammate is transgender and poses a safety risk to his teammates and conference rivals. Both cases are funded by the Independent Women’s Sports Council.
The top six teams qualified for the Mountain West tournament, and the top two seeds received a bye into the semifinals. San Jose State, with a 12-6 record, Number 2 is the seed.. Six of his 12 wins have come via forfeit.
“We are very excited to have the opportunity to represent San Jose State University and the 19 young women who have helped us get to this point,” SJSU coach Todd Kreiss told ESPN.
The Spartans will play the winner of the Utah State boys state game on Friday. Both of those teams lost against SJSU during the regular season. In a request from The Associated Press, Boise State associate athletic director Chris Katz declined to comment on whether the Broncos would play SJSU if they won their first-round tournament game. Utah State associate athletic director Doug Hoffman told the AP that the university is reviewing the order and the team is preparing for Wednesday’s game.
Utah State’s Kelly Ray and Boise State’s Katelyn VanKirk and Kiersten VanKirk were among the 12 plaintiffs in the lawsuit seeking an emergency injunction to keep the San Jose State player out of the tournament.
The conference said it was “satisfied” with the judge’s decision and will uphold the policies established by its board of directors, which are “directly aligned with the NCAA and USA Volleyball.”
“We are excited to move forward with the Mountain West Conference Women’s Volleyball Championship,” her statement added.
The winner of the Mountain West Tournament receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament beginning on December 5. The bracket will be revealed on Sunday.
This report used information from The Associated Press.