Judge denies request to rule SJSU volleyball player ineligible - ESPN

The San Jose State women's volleyball team is eligible to play in the Mountain West Conference tournament with its full roster, a federal judge in Denver ruled Monday.

U.S. District Judge S. Kato Crews denied a motion filed by 12 plaintiffs against the Mountain West that would have rendered one of the SJSU players ineligible and removed wins from the team.

The lawsuit was filed Nov. 13 by SJSU co-captain Brooke Slusser, SJSU associate head coach Melissa Batie-Smoose, and 10 other current and former Mountain West volleyball players. It asked for emergency injunctive relief to render an SJSU volleyball player, who is alleged to be transgender, ineligible.

The Mountain West tournament is scheduled to start Wednesday in Las Vegas.

«All San Jose State University student-athletes are eligible to participate in their sports under NCAA and Mountain West Conference rules,» the university said in a statement. «We are gratified that the court rejected an eleventh-hour attempt to change those rules. Our team looks forward to competing in the Mountain West volleyball tournament this week.»

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, 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.

«The Court finds the movants' delay was not reasonable, there is no evidence to suggest they were precluded from seeking emergency relief earlier, and the