SJSU transgender volleyball player Blaire Fleming’s college career is likely over after the championship loss

Close the curtain.

San Jose State volleyball player Blaire Fleming likely played the final college volleyball game of his career after losing to Colorado State in the final of the Mountain West Tournament on Saturday night.

Fleming led the Spartans to the championship game in a senior season that was marred by lawsuits from a teammate and a national controversy over whether Fleming was transgender. Fleming led the team in spikes and caused four Mountain West rivals to lose a total of seven conference games, including a tournament semifinal.

But Colorado State never shied away from playing Fleming or the Spartans.

The Rams played San Jose twice in the regular season, split the season series and then won the championship game three sets to one. Colorado State’s Malaya Jones, the Mountain West player of the year, led the game with 26 kills after kneeling during the pregame national anthem.

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Blaire Fleming of the San Jose State Spartans reacts during the second set against the Air Force Falcons on Falcon Court at East Gym on October 19, 2024 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. (Andrew Wevers/Getty Images)

According to a lawsuit filed by Slusser and a Title IX complaint, Jones also allegedly conspired with Fleming to shoot a ball into the face of San Jose State teammate Brooke Slusser in an Oct. 3 game.

Slusser was never stabbed in the face, and Mountain West closed an investigation into the Title IX complaint, saying it found insufficient evidence of wrongdoing. Slusser’s attorney has questioned the validity of the investigation.

Fleming, meanwhile, led San Jose State with 17 kills in the game but committed nine errors and hit poorly in the first two sets as the Spartans fell in a two-sets-to-nil hole.

San Jose State’s loss also means the team will not advance to the NCAA Tournament, which would have caused further controversy with possible matchups with non-conference teams. Boise State lost its Mountain West Tournament semifinal game to San Jose State, which could have set a precedent for teams in other states whose laws prevent transgender inclusion in women’s sports.

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Boise State, Utah State, Wyoming, Nevada and non-conference opponent Southern Utah all lost regular season games to San Jose State this season due to the controversy. Meanwhile, Louisiana Tech, which played its season opener against San Jose State on August 30, told Fox News Digital that it did not know that Fleming was a natural male and suggested that the game would not have taken place had the team known about it would have known.

The situation became so widely publicized that Fleming’s presence on the team drew criticism from President-elect Trump’s campaign in the last election cycle.

Trump commented on the Fleming situation during a town hall event on Fox News Channel’s “The Faulkner Focus” on October 17. Trump specifically referenced Fleming, describing a video in which one of the athlete’s spikes hit another player.

“I saw the slam. It was a slam. “I’ve never seen a ball hit that hard and hit that girl in the head,” Trump said. “But other people, even in volleyball, have been permanently, I mean, really badly injured. Women play against men. But you don’t have to play volleyball. We’ll stop it. We’ll stop it. We.” Absolutely stop. You can’t have that.

Trump announced that if elected he would ban transgender inclusion in women’s sports. It became a talking point that he referenced at every campaign event from then until Election Day. He and Republican allies criticized Democrats’ position on protecting transgender inclusion, which was becoming increasingly unpopular.

A federal judge could have ended Fleming’s career sooner, but decided to allow the player to participate in the conference tournament.

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Colorado federal judge Kato Crews, appointed by President Biden in January, denied a request for a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit filed by college volleyball players against the conference.

The players wanted their losses overturned for refusing to play Fleming and the Spartans, which in turn would result in a shift in the standings ahead of the tournament. They also wanted Fleming banned from the tournament.

However, Crews wrote that the plaintiffs’ request for an urgent delay was “unreasonable” and would “cause confusion and upend months of planning and adversely affect at least (San Jose State) and other teams participating in the tournament.” “

Despite the complaints, Slusser and the rest of the San Jose State squad were on the court with Fleming all season.

Fleming was second in the conference in kills per set with .386, still well behind Jones, who led the way with .457.

Fleming had a defining moment in the second-to-last game of the season at home on Senior Day against first-place Colorado State. Fleming led the match with 24 kills and total attacks and secured the victory in the fifth set with a match point service ace.

Immediately after the game, Fleming was swarmed by his teammates cheering. Even Slusser got involved. This group celebration came just days after Slusser and other Mountain West players filed a second lawsuit against San Jose State and the conference over Fleming’s presence on the team.

Now Fleming, Slusser and their other veteran teammates are looking ahead to life after volleyball.

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