Women's volleyball co-captain opens up about lawsuit over transgender player
San Jose State University's women's volleyball co-captain Brooke Slusser says she is standing up for herself and her team on 'The Ingraham Angle' as sports journalist Michele Tafoya reacts.
EXCLUSIVE: On Aug. 30, Louisiana Tech's women's volleyball team took the court in Fullerton, California, for a season opener against San Jose State and Spartan senior Blaire Fleming at the annual Cal State Fullerton Invitational. Fleming, one of the top players in the entire Mountain West, has been alleged to be a trans athlete and biological male in multiple lawsuits.
Louisiana Tech head volleyball coach Amber McCray confirmed to Fox News Digital on Wednesday that she and her team were unaware of these allegations when they played the match against San Jose State on Aug. 30. LA Tech lost in straight sets as Fleming led the game in kills with 14 and total attacks with 29.
A San Jose State spokesperson confirmed to Fox News Digital on Wednesday that the Northern California-based university did not formally notify the opponents on its volleyball schedule of the situation involving the first lawsuit and the context in it after it was filed in September. The game between San Jose State and LA Tech took place prior to the first lawsuit, amid a few reports of the situation by multiple media outlets.
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Brooke Slusser and Blaire Fleming of the San Jose State Spartans call a play during the first set against the Air Force Falcons at Falcon Court at East Gym on Oct. 19, 2024 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. (Andrew Wevers/Getty Images)
The first court documents that alleged Fleming is a trans athlete were filed in late September when teammate Brooke Slusser joined a lawsuit against the NCAA for its policies on gender identity and eligibility. Slusser alleged that San Jose State made an effort to hide Fleming's biological sex from Slusser and other players since Fleming transferred to the school in 2022. Slusser claims she shared changing spaces and a bedroom with Fleming without knowing that information.
When asked if San Jose State notified LA Tech of the situation involving Fleming and complaints by players prior to the first court filings, a San Jose State spokesperson noted that Slusser didn't join the lawsuit until September. That spokesperson has declined to confirm whether any notice was given to LA Tech on the situation prior to that.
However, that spokesperson has confirmed that San Jose State has been in communication with all campuses the team visits for away games to coordinate security. Police protection was assigned to the team beginning at its home matches against San Francisco on Sept. 19 and St. Mary's on Sept. 21, Fox News Digital previously reported. Security efforts also include coordinating backup from other police departments when the team travels.
News of the first lawsuit and controversy surrounding Fleming's presence on the team spread and prompted a total of seven forfeited matches from five different teams on San Jose State's schedule.
But LA Tech's head volleyball coach and athletic director claims the team did not have the information to make an informed decision on whether they should forfeit. Instead, McCray said the team found out that next day by word from parents who had heard rumors.
McCray and LA Tech athletic director Ryan Ivey first addressed their lack of knowledge of the situation in an email response to a letter from The Concerned Women of America of Louisiana (CWALA) and its State Director Laura Hubber.
In Ivey's response, he indicated that the team would have sought "a different outcome" if they had known about the allegations in Slusser's lawsuits, which had been previously reported but not officially notified to LA Tech.
"We received no notification prior to the match with San Jose State that a transgender athlete would be competing. Had we been notified; we would have worked toward a different outcome. I can assure you that providing a safe and equitable environment for our female student-athletes to compete and live out their dreams and ambitions is of the utmost importance to us," Ivey wrote in an email addressed from Ivey to Huber that has been obtained by Fox News Digital.
Ivey provided a follow up statement to Fox News Digital.
"We would have contacted the tournament regarding competitive fairness and player safety. Their response would determine our course of action."
McCray's email response recounted when her team learned of Fleming's birth sex the following day.
"We were not made aware of Blaire Fleming’s situation until the night after our match against San Jose State, so there was no knowledge of the need to prepare our team for this. It was also the very first match of the season, and the one and only match every year we do not have a prepared scouting report on our opponent because there is no video available yet on the current season’s team and thus no research on their current players. While the public revelation about Blaire Fleming came in April 2024, it did not make national news where it was widely circulated until this Fall 2024 season, hence the reason why San Jose State opponents did not forfeit matches in previous years as they have this year," McCray wrote.
McCray also said that she believes the host team at the August invitational, Cal State Fullerton, was not aware of Fleming's birth sex either.
"Host team Cal State Fullerton did not inform us that a transgender student-athlete was competing on one of the teams invited to the tournament. I am also unsure if they were made aware prior to the competition, or if they found out afterwards like we did," McCray wrote.
McCray also confirmed that the LA Tech players were kept in a separate and distant locker room from San Jose State's players.
"I am unsure of San Jose State’s locker room situation, but I know our team was separated from both other teams as our locker room was on the opposite side of the building from both San Jose State and Cal State Fullerton the entire weekend of [Aug. 30 to Aug. 31]," McCray wrote.
Louisiana became the 18th state in the U.S. to enact a state law to prevent trans inclusion in women's sports in the summer of 2022.
That July, the state passed the Fairness in Women's Sports Act, which requires schools to "designate intercollegiate and interscholastic athletic teams according to the biological sex of the team members." It defines "biological sex" as the sex listed on a person's birth certificate at the time of their birth. It also explicitly states that teams designated for females are "not open to participation" by anyone whose birth certificate said male, which specifically excludes trans girls and women.
The law applies to public elementary, middle and high schools, as well as public universities. It will also apply to any private school or university that receives public funds. The law also gives students and others the ability to sue schools who allow trans girls and women to play on female sports teams, and prevents action taken against anyone who reports a school who violates the law.
LA Tech's match against San Jose State took place in California, however, where there is a law to protect trans inclusion in women's sports.
Concerned Women for America legislative strategist Macy Petty provided a comment to Fox News Digital on the dialogue between LA Tech and the organization.
"Dozens of female athletes this fall had to find out through news outlets that the institution they’ve been sacrificing their whole lives for stabbed them in the back. Some of them, such as LA Tech, didn’t even know until after they competed in the farce. The almighty administrators are finally having to answer, and we support these girls as they take to the courts. The legal court, that is," Petty said.
Slusser has since filed another lawsuit against the Mountain West and is joined by several other players in the conference in alleging the conference and San Jose State have failed to protect female athletes amid Fleming's ongoing inclusion.
An emergency hearing has been scheduled for Thursday in Denver. A judge will determine whether to grant an injunction that seeks to disqualify San Jose State from competing in the conference tournament and disqualify Fleming from competing in the upcoming conference tournament. The injunction is also seeking to remove the losses from the records of five teams who protested by not competing against SJSU.
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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., on Thursday, Oct. 03, 2024. (Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
San Jose State finished the regular season with a 14-5 record and a 12-5 conference record. Seven of its wins and six of its conference wins came via forfeit by opposing teams amid the controversy. Utah State and Boise State are in the tournament picture and could be potential opponents for San Jose State in Las Vegas. They have already taken losses. Boise State accepted two losses after refusing to face Fleming earlier in the season.
A Mountain West spokesperson told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that if San Jose State reaches the final in the upcoming tournament, and their opponent in that game forfeits out of protest, that San Jose State would be recognized as conference champions and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
San Jose State has repeatedly defended the presence of Fleming on the team.
"Our athletes all comply with NCAA and Mountain West Conference policies and are eligible to play under the rules of those organizations. Our volleyball team members have earned the right to compete, and we are deeply disappointed for them and with them that they are being denied those opportunities through cancelations and forfeits. We are also proud of how they have persevered through these challenges on the court," a statement provided to Fox News Digital by a university spokesperson said.
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