LAS VEGAS – Boise State has not yet made a call whether it can face San Jose State within the Mountain West women's volleyball semifinals on Friday after losing two games to the Spartans within the regular season.
Boise State defeated Utah State 3 sets to 1 within the quarterfinals on Tuesday, winning the primary, third and fourth sets. The game was played between two of the five teams that selected to face San Jose State this season, resulting in uncertainty as as to whether the winner would face the Spartans within the semifinals.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Boise State media director Doug Link said. “I think we’ll play, but there’s nothing more to say at this point.”
When further asked if he personally believed Boise State would decide to participate, Link again responded that he didn’t know and that the university couldn’t comment further presently.
Asked whether external pressure contributed to the choice, Link said he couldn’t comment. He didn’t give a timetable for the upcoming decision. The game is scheduled for Friday at 4:00 p.m. PT in Las Vegas.
Due to opponents refusing to play, SJSU was awarded six conference wins and 7 wins overall. Neither school explained why she withdrew, but after a lawsuit filed in September by Spartans co-captain Brooke Slusser and others, they claimed an SJSU teammate was transgender and argued she had benefits over opponents and teammates. Neither San Jose State nor the player have commented on the allegation, nor have any of the forfeit schools commented.
A legal motion in a second lawsuit in search of to bar the player from the tournament was rejected by a federal judge on Monday, and that call was upheld on appeal on Tuesday.
Largely because of these losses, San Jose State secured second place and a tournament bye to the conference semifinals. The Spartans enter conference play with a record of 12-5, but have gone 6-5 in actual Mountain West games played. Boise State finished 10-8 in conference play to complete in sixth place.
Originally published:
image credit : www.mercurynews.com