The season ends with a transgender player on the San José State volleyball team

A season of protests, forfeitures and lawsuits ended peacefully Saturday on the volleyball court when San José State lost in the Mountain West Conference women’s tournament final to Colorado State.

The loss denied San José State from seeking an automatic bid to the 64-team NCAA tournament conference, which could have extended the controversy surrounding the team’s transgender player. Instead, top-seeded Colorado State earned the automatic bid with a four-set win.

Fewer than 200 spectators attended the game at UNLV, and the fans were respectful, cheering for every player during pregame introductions and during the game. The players encouraged each other throughout the game and exchanged hugs at the end.

The only political cheer came when Colorado State star Malaya Jones and teammates Kennedy Stanford and Naeemah Weathers knelt during the national anthem. Colorado State coach Emily Kohan told reporters that players will kneel before games beginning in 2020.

“They’ve been on their knees since their first year, during the Black Lives Matter movement, and, in this process, we’re raising critical thinkers to make decisions about what’s important to them,” Kohan said. “Also, of these three, they are Black players, and it was important for them for five years. And they have stood up and said this is something they believe in, and we have all supported them.”

The focus on volleyball and sportsmanship was a welcome departure from a roller-coaster season in which four Mountain West teams — Boise State, Wyoming, Utah State and Nevada-Reno — each opted to withdraw or cancel two games. of conferences to San José State. Boise State also dropped its conference tournament semifinal game to the second-seeded Spartans, who went well in the first round and played just one game in the tournament.

The transgender player has been on San José State’s roster for three seasons after transferring from the East Coast college, though this is the first season opponents have contested the player’s participation. The player has not been named by The Times because they have not publicly identified as transgender.

The issue became public when San José State captain Brooke Slusser joined a lawsuit in September against the NCAA filed by former All-American swimmer and anti-athlete activist Riley Gaines. The lawsuit alleges that the NCAA’s transgender eligibility policies violate Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Slusser alleges in court that the inclusion of a transgender player creates unfair advantage and safety risks.

The NCAA adopted new rules last year regarding transgender athletes, who must record sport-specific testosterone levels at the start of their season and again six months later. They must also record testosterone levels four weeks prior to championship selection.

“We are steadfast in our support of transgender athletes and promoting fairness in all college sports,” said John DeGioia, chairman of the NCAA board of governors and president of Georgetown. “It is imperative that NCAA member schools, conferences and collegiate athletes compete in an inclusive, fair, safe and respectful environment and can move forward with a clear understanding of the new policy.”

However, schools that lose volleyball games are supported by politicians in their states. Idaho’s Republican Gov. Brad Little recently signed an executive order barring sports teams at Boise State and other public schools in the state from playing teams with transgender players.

San José State is left to put its season together against serious playoff opponents. Colorado State was one of those.

“Our team played their hearts out today, the way they have all season,” San José State coach Todd Kress said in a statement after the conference championship loss. “This has been one of the hardest seasons I’ve ever faced and I know this is true for many of our players and the staff who have supported me throughout. Keeping us focused on the court and ensuring the safety and well-being of my players amidst the outside noise have been my top priorities.”

Slusser, San José State head coach Melissa Batie-Smoose and 10 other current and former players filed another lawsuit Nov. 13 intended to have a transgender player removed before the conference tournament, saying his inclusion violated Title IX’s rights to gender equality at federally funded institutions. But a federal judge last Monday dismissed the case, and a day later, another judge dismissed Slusser’s appeal.

A transgender player took the court and Slusser and San José State lost, ending a tumultuous season that Kress said included attacks on social media.

“Our team was prepared and ready to play each game according to Mountain West and NCAA playing rules,” Kress said in his statement. “We did not deprive anyone of the opportunity to participate. The sad thing is that some who have been playing this team for years without incident chose not to play this season.

“To be clear, we did not celebrate a single victory by eating. Instead, we prepared to go out. Each forfeiture announcement reveals the horrible and hateful messages people have chosen to send directly to our student-athletes, our coaching staff, and many associated with our program.”