(LifeSiteNews) — San Jose State University continues to dig itself in a hole thanks to a new controversy surrounding a male student who is playing on its female volleyball team.
Assistant head coach Melissa Batie-Smoose is alleging that the California school suspended her indefinitely on Saturday after she filed a 33-page Title IX complaint over Braden “Blaire” Fleming.
“I just want to protect women’s sports and protect the members of our team,” she told anti-woke sports website Outkick.
Fleming is a 6-foot-1 redshirt junior who plays outside hitter. He is one of the Mountain West Conference’s top performers. Multiple teams have refused to take the court against the team due to Fleming’s presence, including Nevada, Southern Utah, Boise State, Wyoming, and Utah State.
University of Nevada becomes the 5th team to forfeit their upcoming match against SJSU. They’re the first school to specifically cite fairness & safety concerns as reason for forfeit.
Incredibly proud of these girls👏🏼 this is the way!!! pic.twitter.com/chEtM8CBKB
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) October 14, 2024
The @NevadaWVB volleyball team was supposed to play @SanJoseStateVB today. SJSU has a man on their team.
Instead of playing, they held a press conference during game time and shared why they’re holding the line. Major kudos to their bravery & leadership👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 #BOYcott pic.twitter.com/x4u14dhXZA
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) October 26, 2024
Website Quillette reported that Batie-Smoose stated in her complaint that she believed Fleming’s leaping and “spiking” ability far “exceeded that of any player in the Conference.” She also said other players on the team were not aware he was a male and that the school showed favoritism toward him in such a way that created a culture of fear for those who had reservations about his inclusion.
Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of Batie-Smoose’s filing was her allegation that Fleming colluded with a female opponent on Colorado State’s squad to potentially injury his teammate Brooke Slusser, who has appeared on multiple podcasts expressing her strong opposition to playing with Fleming.
Batie-Smoose claimed that Fleming had schemed to not defend certain shots or “spikes” taken by the Colorado State player so Slusser would be more exposed to being hit in the face. A video purporting to show the cheating has been re-shared by Slusser on her X page.
UNREAL VIDEO 🚨🚨People have been asking to see the play mentioned in the @Quillette article about Blaire Fleming intentionally setting up the ball to Malaya Jones on the OPPOSING TEAM so she can smash it back down at @BrookeSlusser.
Here is the quote. And below is the proof.… pic.twitter.com/E7ukqjQsFS
— Beth Bourne (@bourne_beth2345) November 3, 2024
Slusser is one of 18 college athletes currently suing the NCAA for its pro-LGBT policies. According to the New York Post, she has testified that she didn’t know Fleming was a male while sharing rooms with him on team trips. She also says that his spikes are capable of reaching 80 miles per hour.
My assistant coach spoke truth to protect my team.Then…they fire her. They took away the only safe space we had in the program.Because she knew that it was right to stand up for the 18 women on the team.Not one man.
https://t.co/GXhWXQMA5O— Brooke Slusser (@BrookeSlusser) November 3, 2024
If you’re wondering why teams are forfeiting against @SJSU, here’s the reason.
Last night another woman was smashed in the face by a kill from a man posing as a woman.
It’s unfair, unsafe, and regressive, yet our “leaders” remain silent. pic.twitter.com/OS15AFxQsp
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) October 18, 2024
In 2022, a female high school volleyball player in North Carolina suffered a concussion after a trans player from the other team hit her in the head with a ball traveling roughly 70 miles per hour.
Spokespersons for the school and the Mountain West Conference told Outkick that they cannot comment on the nature of Batie-Smoose’s dismissal but that they are “reviewing” the relevant facts. The NCAA is yet to issue a statement.
Batie-Smoose further told Outkick that “this is just another form of what San Jose State has been trying to do – silence people that are speaking up for their First Amendment rights and for what’s right.”
Multiple conservative politicians issued statements of support when Nevada’s volleyball team refused to take the floor against San Jose State.
“I wholeheartedly respect the decision of the players. No student athlete should ever be pressured to play a game where they don’t feel safe — period,” GOP Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo said.
The student athletes at the University of Nevada, Reno have determined that they do not want to play against San Jose State, and I wholeheartedly respect the decision of the players.
No student athlete should ever be pressured to play a game where they don’t feel safe — period. pic.twitter.com/YuDtq8eAcV
— Governor Joe Lombardo (@JosephMLombardo) October 15, 2024
As reported by LifeSite in February, a girls basketball team at a public charter high school in Massachusetts forfeited a game at halftime because a gender-confused male player on the opposing team had injured three of its players, causing the remaining teammates to fear for their safety.
In April, five female middle school athletes in West Virginia refused to throw the shot put against a male after a circuit court exempted the boy from a state law that prevents males from competing on female sports’ teams.
Last month, Donald Trump told Harris Faulkner of Fox News that he would “ban” males playing against women via executive action if he is elected.
“It’s a man playing in a (women’s) game,” he plainly stated.