LAS VEGAS — Top-seeded Colorado State defeated San Jose State 3 sets to 1 in the Mountain West women’s volleyball final on Saturday, ending a season full of controversy and uncertainty for the Spartans.
“This has been one of the most difficult seasons I’ve ever experienced and I know this is true as well for many of our players and the staff who have been supporting us all along,” Spartans coach Todd Kress said in a statement released immediately after the game.
“I will not sugarcoat our reality for the last two months. Our team prepared and was ready to play each match according to established Mountain West and NCAA rules of play. We did not take away anyone’s participation opportunities. Sadly, others who for years have played this same team without incident chose not to play us this season.
“To be clear, we did not celebrate a single win by forfeiture. Instead, we braced for the fallout. Each forfeiture announcement unleashed appalling, hateful messages individuals chose to send directly to our student-athletes, our coaching staff, and many associated with our program.”
San Jose State announced before the match that neither Kress nor any of his players would be made available for postgame interviews.
The Spartans were unable to capitalize on a 23-21 lead in the first set, ultimately dropping the set 27-25. They led 20-19 in the second as well but dropped six consecutive points, allowing Colorado State to take the set 25-20.
SJSU took the third set 25-23 before CSU clinched the Mountain West title and the conference’s automatic NCAA tournament berth with a 25-16 victory in the fourth set.
Blaire Fleming was SJSU’s top performer in the loss, recording 17 kills, three digs and a block. Nayeli Ti’a added 12 kills and nine digs for the Spartans.
Malaya Jones led Colorado State with 26 kills, nine digs, and three blocks while teammate Emery Herman tallied 16 digs.
San Jose State earned the two-seed in the conference tournament after being awarded six of their 12 wins in conference play due to opponents refusing to play.
None of the schools confirmed why they elected not to play, but the presumed reason is a Title IX lawsuit filed by SJSU co-captain Brooke Slusser in September that sought to disqualify one of her teammates on the allegation that she was transgender.
The player was allowed to play in this week’s conference tournament after a federal judge in Colorado denied an emergency motion Monday filed by Slusser and eight other players in the conference as a last-ditch attempt to prevent the player from competing in the tournament.
Two protestors attended Colorado State’s semifinal match on Friday afternoon but didn’t return for Saturday’s final.
San Jose State started the season 9-0 before losing their first game of the season in a sweep to Colorado State on Oct. 3. The Spartans ultimately split the season series with CSU before falling in Saturday’s final.
Counting both regular and postseason games that were contested this season, SJSU went 7-5 overall and 6-6 in the Mountain West.
