San Diego State’s women’s volleyball team (9-3, 1-1 Mountain West) has a week to go before a road game at San Jose State.
Trouble is, the Spartans have dealt with a flurry of forfeits, the latest by Utah State, which on Wednesday become the fourth program to cancel a game against San Jose State for unacknowledged reasons.
The Aggies said Wednesday they would forfeit their Oct. 23 MW conference game. Boise State already forfeited its Sept. 28 game against the unbeaten Spartans (9-0, 2-0 MW) and Wyoming followed suit this week. The Cowboys’ game slated for Saturday is now a 3-0 forfeit win for San Jose State.
On Sept. 14, Southern Utah became the first school not to take the floor against San Jose State, with the result listed as “canceled” on the conference’s website. An email sent to Southern Utah wasn’t returned.
In follow-up emails to Boise State and Wyoming, the schools referred media back to their original statements.
Political figures from Wyoming, Idaho and Utah have weighed in and suggested that the forfeits center around protecting women’s sports. The LGBTQ-focused Outsports reported that the issue has arisen around player Blaire Fleming, who “it seems everyone believes is transgender.”
Fleming has not made public statements regarding her status, the outlet reported, while noting, “this, of course, is a mess.”
San Jose State declined through a spokesperson an interview request for any players or coaches. Conference officials also declined to comment.
The Spartans play Thursday against Colorado State in Fort Collins. San Diego State has two games before their Oct. 10 match at San Jose State.
