University Of Nevada Will Not Forfeit Against San Jose State, Blaire Fleming
While several schools, including three in the Mountain West, have refused to compete against San Jose State due to the team having transgender player Blaire Fleming, the University of Nevada told OutKick that it intends to play the scheduled match.
The school sent a statement to OutKick via email.
"The University of Nevada volleyball team remains focused on its upcoming matches with UNLV and San Diego State and intends to play its remaining Mountain West schedule, including the match with San José State University on October 26," the statement read.
"The University will continue to abide by the NCAA, Mountain West Conference and USA Volleyball rules and regulations as well as the laws and Constitution of the State of Nevada."
The University of Nevada told OutKick that its volleyball team intends to play its scheduled match against San Jose State, despite the presence of transgender player Blaire Fleming.
(University of Nevada Athletics & San Jose State Athletics)
Southern Utah became the first school to cancel its match against San Jose State last month when it backed out of a scheduled contest at the Santa Clara Tournament.
Since then, three schools have followed suit: Boise State, Wyoming and Utah State.
The most interesting aspect of the Utah State forfeit is that the school canceled three weeks before the scheduled match (October 23).
The University of Nevada decided to get out in front of it, as well, except to make the opposite decision from Utah State.
As of now, the Mountain West Conference has remained relatively silent on the matter, preferring to deflect attention towards the individual schools and the NCAA.
That's despite San Jose State sitting at the top of the conference at 4-0, though they've only played in one conference match, defeating Fresno State.
Per the conference's latest statement to OutKick:
"Per Mountain West policy, these are institutional decisions, and questions should be directed to the institutions. The forfeits are following the current policy and will be accounted for in the conference standings," conference spokesperson Javan Hedlund wrote via email.
RELATED: Colorado State Promotes Thursday Match Against SJSU, Blaire Fleming But Turns Off Comments On Post
San Jose State is off to the best start in school history, sitting at 9-0 in completed matches.
While San Jose State has gotten three victories via forfeit, several Mountain West schools maintain that they will play against the team in upcoming matches.
San Jose State plays Colorado State on Thursday night on the road before traveling to San Diego State next Thursday.
That match is still scheduled and San Diego State did not respond to a request for comment on whether it plans to compete in that game.