San Jose State University’s volleyball team, which has been at the center of recent debates over women’s sports, was eliminated in a tournament on Saturday. THE SJSU team lost to Colorado State University 27-25, 25-20, 23-25, 25-16 in the Mountain West Tournament finals. This loss ended the team’s season.
Related: Controversy, commentary surrounding San Jose State University’s trans female volleyball player
“Today, our team played as hard as they have all season,” SJSU head coach Todd Kress said in a statement. CNN. “This has been one of the most difficult seasons I’ve ever experienced, and I know this is true for many of our players as well as the staff who have supported us all along. Court My priority was to maintain focus and ensure the overall safety and well-being of our players despite the outside noise.”
The university’s team forfeited games against SJSU for several weeks over the alleged presence of a transgender woman on the team. Boise State also withdrew from the tournament and boycotted the match against SJSU twice this season. Associated Press I will report it.
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The newswire said the school did not provide an explanation for the withdrawal, but noted that it was one of the schools involved in a lawsuit seeking to prevent the player from playing in the tournament. Last week, a judge ruled that the player could still compete. This decision was upheld by a federal appeals court just one day later.
SJSU suspended six players this regular season for boycotting players who identified as transgender. In addition to Boise State, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada and Southern Utah all declined to play SJSU.
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The athlete has never spoken publicly about his gender identity. The Associated Press reported that the school has not confirmed that the athlete is transgender.
There were two protesters at Friday’s convention, the paper said. I couldn’t see anything during the SJSU game on Saturday.
“I won’t let our reality surface for the last two months. Our team prepared for each game in accordance with established Mountain West and NCAA competition rules and was ready to play,” Kress said. said, CNN reported. “We did not deprive anyone of the opportunity to participate. Sadly, other players who have played with the same team for years without incident have chosen not to play with us this season.
“To be clear, we have never celebrated a victory by forfeit. Instead, we prepared for the fallout. Every time a disqualification is announced, individuals, student-athletes, A horrifying and hateful message was unleashed that he chose to send directly to the coaching staff and many others associated with the program.”
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