SJSU Volleyball, Led By Trans Blaire Fleming, Gets Bye In Mountain West Tournament

The Mountain West Conference volleyball regular season came to its conclusion on Saturday. San Jose State, led by transgender player Blaire Fleming, saw everything go right, even though it did not play on the final day of the regular season. 

San Jose State finished the regular season 12-6 in conference play, with six of those victories coming via forfeit. 

Colorado State defeated Utah State on Saturday to earn the No. 1 overall seed in the Mountain West tournament with a 14-4 record in conference. The loss by Utah State dropped the team to 12-6, with one of those losses coming via forfeit against SJSU.

Fresno State lost to Boise State, and the Bulldogs also finished 12-6. Those losses created a three-way tie between Utah State, Fresno State and San Jose State for the coveted #2 seed in the conference tournament, which earns a first-round bye in the Mountain West tournament. 

San Jose State volleyball, led by transgender player Blaire Fleming, will have a bye in the first round of the Mountain West Conference Tournament.

(Getty Images)

According to the Mountain West Championship tiebreaker procedure, when three or more teams are tied for one spot, the team with the best winning percentage in games between those teams earns the highest spot. 

In this case, San Jose State went 1-1 against Fresno State and 1-0 against Utah State (via forfeit). That gives San Jose State a .667 win percentage (2-1 record) in those games. 

Head-to-head winning percentage vaults SJSU and Blaire Fleming into No. 2 seed

Fresno State lost to Utah State in the only match between those schools, so Fresno State was 1-2 in games against the two other 12–6 teams. Utah State was 1-1 (.500 winning pct.), which is still below SJSU. 

Because of that, SJSU receives the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament, which means it gets a bye straight to the semifinals, which will be played on Friday, Nov. 29. 

Thus, Utah State's forfeit loss to SJSU, as a protest against the Spartans having transgender Blaire Fleming on the team, cost the team the No. 2 seed in the Mountain West tournament. 

Instead, Utah State gets the third seed thanks to its head-to-head victory over Fresno State, and the Bulldogs get the No. 4 spot. 

Utah State forfeited against San Jose State as a protest to the Spartans having biological male Blaire Fleming, a trans-identifying player, and it cost the team a first-round bye in the Mountain West volleyball tournament. 

(Utah State University Athletics)

San Diego State won its regular season finale on Saturday against Air Force, and the victory cemented the team as the No. 5 seed in the Mountain West tournament. San Diego State will face Fresno State on Wednesday. 

That left the final spot to the Boise State Broncos, who finished 10-8 in conference play, despite forfeiting two matches against SJSU and Fleming. 

Which means that Boise State faces Utah State on Wednesday, the latter of the two first round matches. 

SJSU will be matched against a team that forfeited its match in the regular season 

This all sets up a fascinating situation. The winner of the match between the No. 3 seed and the No. 6 seed advances to face the No. 2 seed in the Mountain West volleyball tournament semifinals. 

So, the winner of the match between Utah State and Boise State would then have to play against San Jose State. 

Both Utah State and Boise State forfeited their matches against SJSU in the regular season. 

If they chose to forfeit the semifinal match, they would effectively end their own season. That would be quite the statement, although one that would be quite difficult for a team of young women who have dreamed their entire lives of reaching the NCAA Tournament. 

Would they voluntarily choose to end that dream to protest against Blaire Fleming, a biological male, competing in women's volleyball? That remains to be seen. 

Lawsuit against Mountain West centering around transgender SJSU player Blaire Fleming could impact the conference tournament

Now, all of this could actually change. As OutKick has reported, there is a lawsuit against the Mountain West Conference centering around Fleming. 

On Thursday, there was an emergency hearing in Denver, Colorado, which OutKick attended. 

Plaintiffs are seeking an injunction to disqualify San Jose State from competing in the conference tournament, disqualify Blaire Fleming from competing in the conference tournament, and/or remove the losses from the records of teams who protested by not competing against SJSU – and, subsequently, remove the wins from SJSU.

A lawsuit against the Mountain West Conference centering around San Jose State transgender volleyball player Blaire Fleming, could massively shift the seeding in the conference tournament. 

(Getty Images)

Obviously, if the judge declared that either Fleming or SJSU couldn't compete in the tournament, no team would forfeit. However, that's an unlikely outcome. 

But there is a scenario where the judge rules that the forfeits cannot be enforced, and those matches would instead be considered "no contests." 

If that happens, Utah State gets the No. 2 seed in the tournament, Fresno State moves to No. 3, Boise State jumps to No. 4, San Diego State remains at No. 5 and San Jose State falls down to No. 6. 

Then, SJSU would face Fresno State on Wednesday, with the winner facing Utah State. Again, that would bring the forfeit possibility back into play. 

There's a lot to sort out here, and no one knows just how this is going to play out. 

What we do know, though, is that OutKick will be in Las Vegas to report on the Mountain West volleyball tournament. 

Stay with us for updates on this continuously developing story.