SAN JOSE, California — San Jose State University volleyball coach Todd Kress denied accusations published in the online publication Quillette that reported a player on his team colluded with a Colorado State player in a match on Oct. 3.
Kress told ESPN the article, which was posted on Friday, was “littered with lies.”
It is the latest controversy involving the SJSU team this season. Five opponents have forfeited matches against SJSU, beginning with Southern Utah University, which refused to play its match scheduled for Sept. 14. Mountain West Conference teams Boise State, Utah State, Wyoming and Nevada also have refused to play, which counted as forfeits in conference play for each of those teams.
No specific reason has been given by any of the institutions for the forfeits. Nevada players issued a statement prior to their match scheduled for Oct. 26 saying they “refuse to participate in any match that advances injustice against female athletes.” Instead of playing in San Jose, nine Nevada players participated in a rally in Reno advocating for the exclusion of transgender athletes from women’s sports.
According to the Quillette story, SJSU associate head coach Melissa Batie-Smoose filed a Title IX complaint that stated an SJSU player, whom teammate Brooke Slusser has identified as transgender, shared the team’s scouting report with a CSU player during an off-campus meeting the night before the match. The complaint, the story said, alleged that the players “engineered a plan” to leave part of the court open so the CSU player could target Slusser — the SJSU captain and setter who has been outspoken about her belief that her teammate should not be allowed to play. San Jose State went into the match undefeated but was swept by Colorado State.
ESPN requested the Title IX complaint from San Jose State but has not received it. SJSU spokesperson Michelle Smith McDonald declined to confirm to ESPN if one had been filed. Batie-Smoose was not with the team on Saturday during its 3-1 win versus New Mexico. Smith McDonald said the school “will not provide further information on this matter.” ESPN’s attempts to reach Batie-Smoose were unsuccessful.
On Saturday, Kress confirmed the meeting between the SJSU player and the CSU player happened on the night of Oct. 2 but said that no scouting report was shared.
“We didn’t do our scouting report, and no one had their hands on our scouting report until the day of the match,” Kress said.
Following practice on Oct. 7, Kress said another SJSU player who was present for the off-campus conversation reported to him that she heard her teammate and the CSU player talking about how they would align themselves to open up areas of the court for freer swings. The unnamed player told Kress she thought it was a joke but reported it anyway.
Kress said he called CSU head volleyball coach Emily Kohan the same day he received the allegations and that they reviewed film of the game. Colorado State did not respond to ESPN’s request for a comment.
“I spoke with [Kohan],” Kress said. “We both watched the game film. Neither one of us saw anything that brought to our attention that there was any foul play at hand.”
Kress said both players met with their head coaches and that he referred the matter to SJSU’s Title IX officer to review. He does not know if an investigation was opened or the status of the report.
“Both [student-athletes] said that they were shocked that anybody thought anything of it, because it was totally a joke,” Kress said. “They were just talking and venting because, you know, they were frustrated with the situation.”
According to the Quillette story, Batie-Smoose filed her complaint on Tuesday to SJSU officials, the Mountain West Conference and the NCAA.
“San Jose State takes all reports and complaints seriously and is reviewing them,” a SJSU spokesperson said in a statement on Friday. “Due to federal and state privacy laws, the university is not able to comment on active reports or complaints. The university also has concerns about a number of inaccuracies in the article but is not able to comment further on those in light of those privacy laws. In addition, the university has significant concerns about apparent breaches of student and employee privacy and will be addressing those, as appropriate.”
Federal law prevents universities and their employees from publicly divulging most records and information about their students unless privacy is waived by the individual.
“We became aware of this complaint when it was filed earlier this week,” the Mountain West said in a statement. “We are reviewing the document and have initiated an investigation to gather all the facts.”
On Sept. 23, Slusser joined a lawsuit against the NCAA, stating that one of her teammates is transgender and has an unfair advantage. The San Jose State player, who is competing in her third season with the team, has never publicly stated that she is transgender, so ESPN is not naming her. The lawsuit Slusser joined originally was filed on behalf of Riley Gaines and 15 other female athletes after transgender swimmer Lia Thomas of the University of Pennsylvania won the 500-yard freestyle national championship in 2022. It argues that the NCAA’s transgender athlete policies violate the plaintiffs’ Title IX rights.
Slusser said her teammate poses a safety risk to both opponents and the other SJSU players. Slusser has declined multiple interview requests from ESPN.
“I don’t feel safe,” Slusser said on “The Megyn Kelly Show” last month. “I’ve gone to my coaches and said I refuse to play against [her] if there isn’t at least a block up. … It’s not safe.”
Since 2022, the NCAA has taken a sport-by-sport approach to determine transgender athlete eligibility in the women’s category, utilizing the policies adopted by each sport’s national governing body. USA Volleyball requires transgender women to suppress their testosterone below 10 nmol/L for a period of one year before competition. That benchmark is used by the NCAA to determine its eligibility.
San Jose State has stated that every player on its volleyball roster meets NCAA eligibility requirements.
San Jose State is next scheduled to play UNLV on Nov. 7. Boise State has said it will not play its scheduled Nov. 21 game against SJSU. It is not known if Wyoming will play its other scheduled match with SJSU on Nov. 14.
The top six finishers in the Mountain West Conference qualify to compete in the conference tournament scheduled for Nov. 27-30. The winner gets an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. SJSU (13-3, 9-3) sits in second place with five conference games remaining on its schedule.
