California high school volleyball team with trans athlete sees controversial season end with playoff loss

The Valencia High School girls' volleyball defeated Jurupa Valley High School in straight sets in the first round of the California state playoffs on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (Provided to Fox News Digital)

A nationally contentious season came to an end Wednesday night for a high school girls' volleyball team in California.

Jurupa Valley High School lost their first round state playoff game to Valencia High School in straight sets. The loss, presumably, marked the end of trans athlete AB Hernandez's high school volleyball career.

Jurupa Valley's 2025 season was overshadowed by a national controversy centered on Hernandez. The team saw 10 games forfeited off the team's schedule, and a lawsuit against the school district was filed by two current and one former teammate of Hernandez.

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Transgender player AB Hernandez (4) of Jurupa Valley looks on during a girls’ high school volleyball match against Norte Vista at Norte Vista High School on October 16, 2025, in Riverside, California.  (Kirby Lee/Getty Images)

Still, Hernandez and other JVHS players pressed on with their season and finished as co-champions of the River Valley League, earning a playoff match against Valencia. But it was no typical high school playoff game. 

Multiple sources, including board trustee Leandra Blades at the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District, which houses Valencia High School, confirmed to Fox News Digital that at least one of Valencia's players did not take the court on Wednesday to avoid facing Hernandez. 

Then in the stands, multiple women's sports activists were present, led by California Family Council Outreach Director Sophia Lorey. The activists included local teenage girls,