LAS VEGAS – Mountain West Conference commissioner Gloria Nevarez said Thursday that the waivers women's volleyball teams are willing to accept to avoid playing at San Jose State “is not what we celebrate in college athletics” and that she is heartbroken by what has happened this season. surrounding the Spartans and their opponents.
Four teams canceled games against San Jose State: Boise State, Southern Utah, Utah State and Wyoming, and none of the schools explicitly said why they were losing.
A group of Nevada players issued a statement saying they would not take the field when the Wolf Pack hosted the Spartans on Oct. 26. The players cited their “right to safety and fair competition,” although their school reaffirmed Thursday that the match was still planned and that state law prohibits confiscation “for reasons related to gender identity or expression.”
All of those schools, except Southern Utah, are in the Mountain West. New Mexico, also in the Mountain West, moved forward with its home game Thursday night, which the Spartans won 3-1, the team's first win since Sept. 24.
“It breaks my heart because there are human beings, young people, student-athletes on both sides of this issue that are getting a lot of negative attention nationally,” Nevarez told The Associated Press at Mountain West basketball media days. “It just doesn't seem right to me.”
The Republican governors of Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming have made public statements in support of the cancellations, citing the need for equity in women's sports. Former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee in this year's presidential race, referenced an unnamed volleyball match this week when asked during a Fox News town hall about transgender athletes in women's sports.
“I saw the slam, it was a slam. I never saw a ball hit so hard, hit the girl in the head,” Trump responded before being asked what can be done. “You just ban it. The president bans it. You just don't let it happen.”
After Trump's comment, San Diego State issued a statement saying, “It has been incorrectly reported that a San Diego State University student-athlete was hit in the face with a volleyball during a game with the University San Jose State. The ball bounced off the shoulder.” of the student-athlete, and the athlete was uninjured and did not miss a play.
San Jose State has not made any direct comment on the politicians' “impartiality” references, and Nevarez did not go into detail.
“I'm learning a lot about it,” Nevarez said. “I still don't know much of the language or the science or the understanding at the national level of how this issue plays out. The outside influences are so far on both sides. We have an election year. It's political, so yes, it's felt.” “It's like there's no way out because of all the external pressure.”
The cancellations could mean some teams will not qualify for the conference tournament Nov. 27-30 in Las Vegas, where the top six schools are scheduled to compete for the league championship.
“The student-athlete [in question] meets the eligibility standard, so if a team doesn't play them, it's a forfeit, which means they take a loss,” Nevarez said.
That wasn't the case in New Mexico, where coach Jon Newman-Gonchar said his team discussed whether to play San Jose State.
“We're a volleyball team that wants to compete and get better,” she said after Thursday night's loss in Albuquerque. “There really wasn't much conversation about the personnel on the other side of the team. We just asked, are you comfortable playing? Are there any concerns? All of the athletes said they were excited to play and get better.”
San Jose State coach Todd Kress said playing was his team's “safe haven” and noted there are now police and security escorts when his team takes the field. He has not spoken publicly about specific players since the confiscations began.
“I know it's definitely taken a toll on a lot of them. They're getting hate mail, which is completely ridiculous to me,” Kress said in Albuquerque. “Some of those people are the most vulnerable part of society why you attack a woman who is 18, 19, 20 years old. And even more so if you are a father and you are attacking people who are 18, 19, 20 years old. ” Would you like your student-athlete, your daughter, to face the same kind of hate that you are dishing out?
The Spartans will play next Saturday at Air Force, a week before the game scheduled for Oct. 26 in Reno, if it continues.
Nevada released a statement acknowledging that “the majority of the Wolf Pack women's volleyball team” had decided to lose to San Jose State. The school said only the university can take that step, but any player who decides not to play will not face any punishment.
“When we had our first loss, there was a lot of heartbreak. And now, we didn't expect it, but we know certain programs can be lost,” Kress said. “It still hurts our student-athletes when we don't play a game, but I think they've come to accept it a little bit more and I think that's very unfortunate.”
