SJSU volleyball eliminated from postseason contention year after trans scandal
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It was always going to be a difficult act to follow.
San Jose State University’s volleyball team was eliminated from the Mountain West Tournament with a loss to the University of Nevada at Las Vegas on Saturday, finishing the season below .500 with a 13-16 overall record and an 8-10 mark in conference play.
SJSU exceeded expectations and finished seventh in the Mountain West after being expected to finish 11th in the conference’s preseason coaches poll in 2024 following a controversy involving transgender athlete Blaire Fleming.
Head coach Todd Kress led last year’s team to the conference final but posted eight wins by forfeit, including the conference semifinal. SJSU previously made the conference final with Fleming in 2022, the transgender athlete’s first year with the Spartans under former head coach Trent Kersten.
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The controversy involving Fleming led to two lawsuits, a federal investigation by the U.S. Department of Education and a mass player exodus during the 2024 season. At least seven of the team’s 2024 returning players entered the transfer portal in December after the season ended.
The controversial 2024 season included eight lost games, regular police protection, national scrutiny and civil unrest among players and coaches.
Kress previously said the 2024 season was one of the “toughest” seasons of his life. Kress ranks 21st in wins as a head coach in NCAA women’s volleyball history.
“This has been one of the most difficult seasons I’ve ever experienced, and I know that’s true for many of our players and staff who have supported us throughout. Maintaining our focus on the field and ensuring the overall safety and well-being of my players amidst the outside noise have been my priorities,” Kress said.
FORMER SJSU STAR Brooke SLUSSER MAKE NEW CLAIMS ABOUT INVESTIGATION INTO TRANS TEAMMATE’S ALLEGED SELF-HARMING.
Kersten was the coach who brought Fleming to SJSU as a transfer from Coastal Carolina. Kersten resigned after the 2022 season and was replaced by Kress.
Former SJSU co-captain Brooke Slusser transferred to SJSU from Alabama in 2023
Then, in September 2024, Slusser joined a lawsuit against the NCAA alleging that SJSU officials withheld information about Fleming’s birth gender from him and other players on the team. Slusser claimed that he was forced to share locker and sleeping areas with Fleming, not knowing that Fleming was a biological male.
Slusser, along with several other players in the Mountain West, filed a separate lawsuit against the conference and San Jose State in November 2024 over Fleming’s presence. That case involved testimony from former San Jose State volleyball players Alyssa Sugai and Elle Patterson, who claimed they were denied scholarships in favor of Fleming.
Assistant coach Melissa Batie-Smoose was suspended by the program in early November after she filed a Title IX complaint with the university against Fleming for showing favoritism towards other players, particularly Slusser. Batie-Smoose’s complaint also included allegations of Fleming conspiring to drive a nail into Slusser’s face.
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Brooke Slusser (10) and Blaire Fleming (3) of the San Jose State Spartans call play in the first set against the Air Force Falcons on Falcon Court at East Gym in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Oct. 19, 2024. (Andrew Wevers/Getty Images)
Batie-Smoose’s contract was not renewed by the school at the end of January. The coach later filed his own lawsuit against the Board of Regents of the California State University (CSU) system. SJSU is one of 23 California-based schools that are part of the system.
Batie-Smoose told Fox News Digital that SJSU accommodated Fleming with special exceptions not granted to female athletes.
“Not showing up to practice without any excuse, eating in the stands while practice is going on, things like that,” Batie-Smoose said of the special exceptions reserved only for Fleming.
Fleming had previously responded to Batie-Smoose’s claim and addressed Slusser in a social media post with Fox News Digital.
“The only times I came to practice with ‘no excuses’ and sat in the stands were when I got injured and couldn’t play. Brooke Slusser and Melissa need a life,” Fleming said.
Following the 2024 volleyball season, Slusser fled SJSU following allegations that she was frequently harassed and threatened by other students in response to her speaking out against Fleming and the program the previous fall. She returned to her family home in Texas to finish the school year remotely and is currently working as a youth volleyball coach in North Carolina.
Fleming celebrated his graduation from SJSU in a social media post in May.
The University of Nevada, Reno, which entered the 2024 discussion because it wanted its players to compete against SJSU and Fleming despite preferring to lose, finished the 2025 season in 11th place with an 8-20, 4-14 record in conference play.
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