LAS VEGAS – Colorado State coach Emily Kohan is never overly exuberant. During every rally, she walks up and down with her head down in concentration. That composure was particularly evident Friday, when Kohan led the Rams to the conference championship game of a volleyball tournament that quickly became the epicenter of the heated debate over the participation of transgender athletes in women’s sports.

“It’s been a really complex and emotional situation all season,” said Kohan, the Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year. “I don’t think you really know what that feels like unless you’re in those rooms, having those difficult conversations and making those difficult decisions.”

Every maneuver surrounding this week’s Mountain West women’s volleyball tournament, held at UNLV, gave rise to a broader ongoing political battle and culture war. Athletes and a coach from several schools tried to force San Jose State to expel a player they claimed was a transgender woman. Their attempt to obtain a court injunction failed twice, resulting in the tournament being held largely as planned and the Spartans using their entire roster. San Jose State and the player have neither confirmed nor denied the player’s gender identity.

San Jose State didn’t play its semifinal as expected, as did Boise State has withdrawn his participation after his victory in the opening round. The loss mirrored a similar move on September 28, when Boise State became the first of four Mountain West teams to lose to the Spartans during the regular season (Wyoming, Utah State and Nevada followed).

That put the Spartans in the final against top-seeded Colorado State on Saturday, their first game in 11 days. Although San Jose State found a spark in the third set to avoid being swept away, the Rams smothered that comeback effort with a dominant 25-16 victory in the fourth set, winning 3-1 to clinch the conference title and one of 31 automatic bids secured the NCAA tournament next week.

San Jose State likely won’t join them. When the 64 teams in the NCAA Tournament are announced on Sunday, a comprehensive selection would be required the Spartan rank 130th out of 346 Division I volleyball programs in RPIa key metric for the tournament.

On Saturday, the championship game took place without interruption in front of an announced 312 spectators at UNLV’s Cox Pavilion. San Jose State declined to make its coaches or players available after the game, but coach Todd Kress issued a statement addressing the backlash his team has endured this season.

“I’m not going to sugarcoat our reality over the last two months,” he said. “Our team prepared and was ready to play every game in accordance with established Mountain West and NCAA rules of play.” We did not take away anyone’s opportunity to participate. Unfortunately, others who have played against the same team for years without incident have decided not to play against us this season.

“To be clear, we have not celebrated a single victory by loss. Instead, we braced ourselves for the consequences. Each forfeiture announcement triggered horrific, hateful messages that individuals sent directly to our student-athletes, our coaching staff and many associated with our program.”

Kress also thanked those who supported the team and expressed his pride in his athletes.

Because San Jose State had a bye in the first round, the championship game remained the only game the team played that week. Boise State said in a statement that the decision to withdraw was “not easy” for the team, although the university declined to provide further details about how the decision to forgo was made. “They should not have to forego this opportunity while they wait for a more thoughtful and improved system that serves all athletes,” the team said in its statement.

University officials said no further comment would be made by Broncos players, coaches or athletic director Jeramiah Dickey, who has publicly supported the Broncos’ decision on social media.

At Friday’s semifinal, only a few bruises – some for San Jose State, some for Boise State – could be found in the stands as their game was removed from the agenda. The Spartans sat as spectators on the other side of the gym in an area of ​​bleachers closed to fans, assessing their competition for the championship game.

Two protesters stood outside Cox Pavilion holding signs that read “Boise State should be here” and “Protect women’s sports.” Thank you, Boise State.” Security was present, but aside from an updated spectator policy that included banning all signs and clothing containing “derogatory or offensive language,” the broader debate was less of an active disruptor than for the people of Las Vegas rather an underlying current.

Earlier this month, 11 women’s volleyball players, led by San Jose State co-captain Brooke Slusser and an assistant coach, sued the Mountain West Conference and San Jose State University, saying the defendants violated the U.S. Constitution and violated Title IX by allowing a transgender athlete to play for a women’s sports team.

The lawsuit sought to bar the player from participating in this week’s tournament, but a judge ruled Monday that the situation did not warrant an injunction. A Plaintiffs’ appeal was rejected on Tuesday.

San Jose State has stated that all of its athletes are “eligible to participate in their sports under NCAA and MWC conference rules.” A ongoing federal lawsuit challenges the NCAA’s rules, which were updated in 2022 to follow International Olympic Committee guidance by taking a sport-specific approach and requiring transgender athletes to “document sport-specific testosterone levels.”

Slusser and the alleged transgender player, who has played for San Jose State since 2022, did not respond to team requests for comment. The athletic one does not reveal the player’s name because the athlete has not publicly identified or discussed his gender.

In court documents, Slusser claimed that the player, who was also her roommate, came out as transgender to her in a direct conversation. In Monday’s decision, the judge wrote that “no defendant has disputed that SJSU fielded a transgender female volleyball player.”

Asked if Colorado State felt pressure to play — or not play — amid the ongoing dispute, Kohan said: “Of course.”

“It’s easy to sit there and tweet us what your opinion is,” Kohan said. “You’ll never please everyone. We said that in the first two games (San Jose State). I’ll probably get emails either way, and the teams that give up will probably get emails either way.

“I am not an expert in this area. I didn’t get much training to deal with this situation. But here we are all trying our best,” she said.

In winning the Mountain West Conference Championship, Colorado State also won the rubber match after splitting two games with San Jose State in the regular season.

“No matter what your opinion is, there is room here to recognize that a lot of young guys showed courage in many ways throughout the season,” Kohan said. “This team, we came into this season, we didn’t think this would be the storyline. These fifth-year seniors had messed up this COVID year and wanted to come back to show they could have a championship regular season.

“This was anything but a regular season.”

(Photo: David Buono / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)