Two years after the NCAA swimming world faced controversy over a transgender-identifying biological male competing in women's events, the collegiate volleyball community is now entangled in a nearly identical debate. Five teams have forfeited matches this year instead of facing the San Jose State University women's volleyball team, which includes a transgender athlete, Blaire Fleming, who is a biological male competing as a female and who has helped propel the Spartans to a record of 11-3 overall and 7-3 in the Mountain West Conference. The latest team to forfeit was Nevada, whose players said they "refuse to participate in any match that advances injustice against female athletes." Although the vote not to participate was not unanimous, Nevada co-captain Sia Liilii said her team is united. Videos of Fleming's high-speed spikes have gone viral on social media.
"How many young women will have to be beaten or see their friends beaten up for an opportunity from a male before enough is enough?" Liilii asked at a rally in support of her team, according to Nevada SportsNet. "Men do not belong in women's sports. If you are born a male, you do not belong in women's sports."
Southern Utah, Boise State, Wyoming, and Utah State also forfeited matches.
Fleming, a transfer from Coastal Carolina, leads the team in kills and points. Fleming's athletic prowess is so eye-opening, in fact, that a teammate -- Brooke Slusser -- has joined a lawsuit against the NCAA for allowing biological men to compete in women's sports and to use female locker rooms.
A co-captain on San Jose State's team and the leader in assists, Slusser asserts in the suit that she transferred from the University of Alabama to San Jose State in 2023 without knowledge of the controversy.
"Brooke was surprised to learn Fleming is male, although this was consistent with Brooke's observation that Fleming played volleyball with jumping ability and power that surpassed that of any girl on the team," the suit says.
Slusser has "witnessed multiple girls in practice and on opposing teams hit in the head because they were unable to react to the speed of the male's spikes," a separate friend-of-the-court brief says.
🚨🚨SJSU’s male player, Blaire Fleming blasts a strike knocking another female opponent to the ground in tonight’s match up with Univ of New Mexico.
— Beth Bourne (@bourne_beth2345) October 18, 2024
Sorry to the women of @UNMLoboVB who were overpowered by a male-led team, nothing about tonight's game was fair or safe. @NCAA… pic.twitter.com/seKmx7TXMa
Further, Slusser was "encouraged by the coaching staff to live in an apartment with the male and two girls" and was "assigned to room with the male on road trips" -- all without her knowing of Fleming's biological sex.
Slusser told Fleming that "while she did not want Fleming to be bullied," she "was uncomfortable with Fleming continuing on the SJSU women's volleyball team as she questioned whether it was safe or fair for the other women on the team and for opposing teams for Fleming to compete on the women's team," the lawsuit says.
San Jose State's final regular season game is scheduled for Nov. 21 against Boise State, which previously forfeited.
The majority of the Nevada volleyball team voted to forfeit its Oct. 26 game against California’s San Jose State University, where biological male volleyball player Blaire Fleming has led an almost undefeated season.
— Joey Gilbert (@joeygilbertinc) October 30, 2024
The organization completely ignored the girls. We must protect… pic.twitter.com/TtLCfaqV0k
In 2022, Penn's Lia Thomas, a biological male, won the women's 500-yard freestyle in the NCAA swimming championships, sparking rule changes across the sport.
The issue of trans athletes has also impacted the U.S. presidential race, with GOP nominee Donald Trump running campaign ads against Democrat Kamala Harris for her support of biological males in female sports. Trump opposes males in female sports, saying it's an issue of fairness and safety.
Photo Credit: ©Instagram/blaire.flemming
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
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