Boise State volleyball pulled out of the Mountain West women’s volleyball tournament Wednesday night, forfeiting its spot in the semifinals against San Jose State.
Boise State’s decision to withdraw from the tournament comes after a judge ruled Monday to reject a request to block an alleged transgender San Jose State player from competing in the tournament. A federal court of appeals upheld the ruling Tuesday.
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This is the third time this season the Broncos have forfeited a match against the Spartans, following two regular season games that Boise State boycotted in protest of the same athlete on SJSU’s team.
San Jose State received six forfeit victories during conference play because of opponents boycotting matches and is seeded second in the tournament behind Colorado State. The Spartans received a first-round bye and advanced directly to the championship match Saturday as result of Boise State’s withdrawal.
No. 6-seeded Boise State beat No. 3-seeded Utah State in four sets Wednesday, just hours before the university announced its withdrawal from the tournament.
”The decision to not continue to play in the 2024 Mountain West volleyball championship tournament was not an easy one,” Boise State said in the statement. “Our team overcame forfeitures to earn a spot in the tournament field and fought for the win over Utah State in the first round on Wednesday. They should not have to forgo this opportunity while waiting for a more thoughtful and better system that serves all athletes.”
Boise State is one of five schools in total that have boycotted matches against San Jose State this season, including Southern Utah, Utah State, Wyoming and Nevada.
Current and former Mountain West volleyball players — many of whom are from the schools that forfeited matches this season — filed a lawsuit in Colorado against the Mountain West Conference and San Jose State officials Nov. 13 alleging that the conference policy on transgender participation violates Title IX.
No. 1-seeded Colorado State played No. 5 San Diego State in a semifinals match Friday, Nov. 30, to determine who would face off against San Jose State in Saturday’s championship. After beating the Aztecs, the Rams went on to win the championship against SJSU 3-1.
Reach Hannah Parcells at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @hannahparcells.