The Mountain West volleyball tournament final Saturday pits San Jose State
and transgender player Blaire Fleming against Colorado State and its star,
Malaya Jones.

Fleming has been the subject of controversy, with two lawsuits objecting
to Fleming's presence on the team as a transgender athlete. But Jones and
her teammates introduced some controversy of their own.

Jones and teammates Kennedy Stanford and Naeemah Weathers knelt during the
national anthem ahead of Saturday's match for the second night in a row.

The three players also knelt during the national anthem ahead of a
semifinal match Friday night.

After Friday's game, Colorado State head coach Emily Kohan told reporters
the players have knelt before games for five seasons.

"They've knelt since their freshman year, when the Black Lives Matter
movement was going on, and, in this program, we raise critical thinkers to
make decisions for what's important to them," Kohan said. "And, for those
three, they're Black players, and it's been important to them for five
years. And they've stood their ground for saying that this is something
that they believe in, and we've all supported them."

Questions arose whether the Spartans would even play Saturday's match
after their semifinal opponent, Boise State, forfeited a playoff match
amid the controversy. But Kohan insisted her team would play the game with
Fleming on the court.

SJSU TRANSGENDER VOLLEYBALL SCANDAL: TIMELINE OF ALLEGATIONS, POLITICAL
IMPACT AND A RAGING CULTURE MOVEMENT

"This has been far from a regular season. We get an opportunity to play
for another championship tomorrow, but we also are showing some courage to
be the team that says, �Hey, we�re going to go out there, and we�re gonna
show courage in the way we play and that this can stop with us.�

"We're not going to pass these difficult conversations on to the NCAA
committee or any other team to have those crying conversations in the
hotel."

Colorado State has been the best team in the conference this season, and
San Jose State finished second. In their first match of the regular season
Oct. 3, Spartans head coach Todd Kress thanked Kohan and her team for
simply participating.

At the time, San Jose State had just had three matches wiped off its
schedule due to forfeit over the Fleming controversy.

"I walked up to Emily tonight, and I was like, �Should I say thank you for
playing us?� I seriously meant that because, of course, we're disappointed
that we're losing opportunities to play, but it's not just us that are
losing opportunities to play. It's the people choosing not to play us, and
that's very unfortunate when it comes to these young women that have
earned the right to step on the court and play," Kress said in a postgame
press conference Oct. 3.

Fleming's San Jose State teammate Brooke Slusser is involved in two
separate lawsuits, citing her experience with Fleming as a teammate.
Slusser has alleged she was made to share living and changing areas with
Fleming despite having never been told Fleming is a biological male.

Slusser's most recent lawsuit against the Mountain West alleges another
San Jose State teammate was present for a meeting between Fleming and
Jones in which they discussed a plan to throw the Oct. 3 match in favor of
the Rams, while also planning to have Slusser spiked in the face by Jones.
Those same allegations were included in a Title IX complaint by former
Spartans assistant coach Melissa Batie-Smoose.

The Mountain West has concluded an investigation into the allegations of
the Title IX complaint without finding sufficient evidence to support the
claims. Slusser's attorney provided a statement to Fox News Digital
questioning the validity of the investigation.

Conversation

mjm246
15 hours ago

CSU has gone woke. I sent my kids there when it was a great school. I
will not support them in any way and urge other parents and alums to do
the same.

mr.john
3 hours ago

Colorado as a whole has gone woke which I do not support. My community
experienced tremendous growth as outsiders moved in and pushed up prices
dramatically. Now my community has committed to construction and programs
that has pretty much bankrupted it and future forecasts of deficits and
debts are scary. The community has pretty much adopted the liberal idea
of spend, spend, spend and let those who live here in the future worry and
suffer as a result.

Demslie113
3 hours ago

We moved from Colorado two years ago after calling it our home for 25
years. It has become a woke, dysfunctional, liberal fantasy land where
crime, drugs, illegal aliens, CRT in schools, openly socialist Denver
government, urban camping and super high cost of living are the norm. CSU
was once a very good college but now is just another place to send your
kids to be indoctrinated

Sibon
18 hours ago

I love the way they say everyone deserves to be respected but it's
perfectly fine to disrespect our country. I don't think so, country
before individual a sentiment that is lost in modern times.

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/championship-volleyball-game-featuring-
trans-player-opens-players-kneeling-during-national-anthem