San Jose State’s volleyball season, which sparked a debate about gender in the sport, ends with the MW title game

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The San Jose State volleyball team, the subject of a national debate over participation in women’s sports, was defeated by Colorado State 27-25, 25-20 in the final of the Mountain West tournament on Saturday , 23:25, 25:16 and ended the Spartans’ season.

The Rams (20-10) received the conference’s automatic bid to the 64-team NCAA Tournament.

San Jose State’s season was marked by defeats, limited protests and the issue of gender identity becoming a political issue in an election year. The Spartans were 14-6.

“I will not sugarcoat our reality over the last two months,” Spartans coach Todd Kress said in an athletic department statement. “Our team prepared and was ready to play every game in accordance with established Mountain West and NCAA rules of play. We have not deprived anyone of the opportunity to participate.

“Unfortunately, others who have played against the same team for years without incident have decided not to play against us this season. To be clear, we have not celebrated a single victory through loss. Instead, we braced ourselves for the consequences. Each forfeiture announcement triggered horrific, hateful messages that individuals sent directly to our student-athletes, our coaching staff and many associated with our program.”

The controversy didn’t end during the Mountain West tournament.

Boise State, which twice boycotted regular-season games against San Jose State, withdrew from the conference tournament on Wednesday night, just hours after defeating Utah State to earn a spot against the Spartans in Friday’s semifinals.

While the Broncos did not explicitly announce why they withdrew, a lawsuit was recently filed in Colorado by players from various schools against the conference and San Jose State officials demanding that a Spartans player be barred from participating in the tournament. They cited unspecified reports that there was a transgender player on San Jose State’s volleyball team and even mentioned her by name.

U.S. Magistrate Judge S. Kato Crews in Denver ruled Monday that the player could play, and a federal appeals court upheld the decision the following day.

San Jose State, which suffered a six-game losing streak during the regular season due to boycotts by its opponents, was seeded second in the conference tournament and received a first-round bye.

“This has been one of the most difficult seasons I have ever experienced, and I know this is also true for many of our players and the staff who have supported us throughout,” Kress said. “For me, the priorities were to continue to focus on the pitch and ensure the overall safety and well-being of my players despite the outside noise.”

In addition to Boise State, Mountain West members Wyoming, Utah State and Nevada, as well as Southern Utah, have canceled games against the Spartans this season. Nevada’s players said they “refuse to participate in games that promote injustice against female athletes,” without providing further details.

Colorado State decided to face San Jose State in the regular season and fight for the conference title, even though it was uncertain what might lie ahead on Saturday. It turned out to be a pretty routine day.

There were no protesters outside Cox Pavilion, nor were there any apparent signs of hostility emanating from the roughly 100-strong crowd at the championship game.

“We’ve talked about it every week that we need to play with the extra noise and minimize the time you spend on social media and maximize the time we need to spend on our scouting report and keeping tabs on what we’re doing “We can control it,” Colorado State coach Emily Kohan said. “We can’t control what the crowd will do, what the lineups will be, or what will happen. We can control the way we play on our side and we have done that all year long with every opponent we have played.”

While some media outlets have reported these and other details, San Jose State has not confirmed that there is a transgender female volleyball player at the school. The Associated Press is withholding the player’s name because she has not publicly commented on her gender identity and declined an interview request through school officials.

Transgender women’s participation in women’s sports became a hot political issue in the run-up to the recent election.

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AP College Sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports