Appeals court upholds SJSU volleyball ruling

DENVER — On Tuesday, a federal appeals court upheld a ruling that allows a San Jose State women’s volleyball team member to play in this week’s Mountain West Conference tournament after a legal complaint said she should be ineligible on grounds that she is transgender.

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with U.S. District Judge S. Kato Crews in Denver. He rejected the request for an emergency injunction, finding that the players and others who challenged the conference’s policy for allowing transgender athletes to participate should have filed the complaint earlier.

The players also asked that four teams that had conference losses for refusing to play against San Jose State during the regular season have those losses removed from their records and that the tournament be reseeded based on the updated records.

The athlete in question has played for San Jose State for the past three seasons, but her participation only became an issue this season. The conference policy regarding forfeiting for refusing to play against a team with a transgender player has also been in effect since 2022, the conference said.

The volleyball player has not spoken about her identity, and San Jose State has not commented on her identity due to federal privacy laws. ESPN is not naming the player.

In his ruling Monday, Crews did not weigh the fairness or safety issues that the plaintiffs allege in the lawsuit. Instead, he ruled that the emergency nature of the hearing was unnecessary because the Mountain West’s transgender participation policy had been in place since 2022 and that the forfeiting teams were aware of the policy.

Injunctions are meant to preserve the status quo, Crews said, and the athlete in question playing is the status quo.

The appeals court ruling came after the players filed an emergency appeal of Crews’ order.

The players and others who sued are disappointed that the appeals court found it would be “too disruptive” to enter an injunction the day before the tournament is scheduled to start, said William Bock III, an attorney for the plaintiffs.

The appeals court said the plaintiffs’ “claims appear to present a substantial question and may have merit,” but that they have not made a clear case for emergency relief.

“Plaintiffs look forward to ultimately receiving justice in this case when they prove these legal violations in court and to the day when men are no longer allowed to harm women and wreak havoc in women’s sport,” Bock said in a statement.

The tournament starts Wednesday in Las Vegas. Top-seeded Colorado State and second-seeded San Jose State have byes into Friday’s semifinal matches.

“The team looks forward to starting Mountain West Conference tournament competition on Friday,” San Jose State said in a statement after Tuesday’s ruling. “The university maintains an unwavering commitment to the participation, safety and privacy of all students at San Jose State and ensuring they are able to compete in an inclusive, fair and respectful environment.”

Utah State and Boise State, two of the four Mountain West schools to forfeit against San Jose State this season, play each other Wednesday. The winner of Wednesday’s match will advance to play the San Jose State on Friday.

“Right now, our women’s volleyball program is focused on the game this Wednesday, and we’ll be cheering them on,” Utah State athletics spokesperson Doug Hoffman said in an email after the ruling.

Boise State athletics spokesperson Chris Kutz said the university would not “comment on potential matchups at this time.”

The three schools on other side of the tournament bracket (Colorado State, Fresno State and San Diego State) have not forfeited any matches against San Jose State this season.

The conference said Monday that it was “satisfied” with the judge’s decision and would continue upholding policies established by its board of directors, which “directly align with NCAA and USA Volleyball.”

“We are excited to proceed with the Mountain West Conference Women’s Volleyball Championship,” its statement added.

The winner of the Mountain West tournament receives an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, which begins Dec. 5. That bracket will be revealed Sunday.

ESPN’s Katie Barnes and The Associated Press contributed to this report.