Idaho officials are praising Boise State's decision to forgo a women's volleyball game against a team with a transgender player

Idaho Gov. Brad Little praised Boise State for forgoing its game against San Jose State University on Saturday due to a controversy surrounding a transgender member of the women's volleyball team.

Boise State Athletics confirmed the decision in a statement Saturday. The university did not provide a reason for the forfeiture.

Idaho Governor Brad Little recently signed an executive order directing the State Board of Education to ensure fairness is maintained in women's sports. (Darin Oswald/Idaho Statesman/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

“Boise State volleyball will not play its scheduled game at San Jose State on Saturday, September 28,” the statement said. “Per Mountain West Conference Under this policy, the conference will record the game as a loss and a loss for Boise State. The Broncos will next face Air Force on October 3.”

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The Republican governor, who recently signed an executive order directing the State Board of Education to ensure fairness in women's sports, released a statement praising the decision.

“I applaud @BoiseState for working on my executive order, the Defending Women's Sports Act,” his post on X reads. “We must ensure the safety of all our athletes and continue the fight for fairness in women's sports.”

Boise State became the second school to withdraw from the game against SJSU due to controversy surrounding a member of the women's volleyball team.

Blaire Fleming, a redshirt senior at San Jose State University, plays outside hitter and right tackle on the women's volleyball team. Fleming, a transgender athlete, played three seasons at SJSU after previously playing at SJSU Carolina Coast.

BOISE STATE WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL LOSES UPCOMING MATCH AGAINST SJSU IN CONTROVERSY OVER TRANS PLAYER

Earlier this week, one of Fleming's teammates, along with several other female athletes, sued the NCAA for Title IX violations.

A volleyball net pictured during the Division III Women's Volleyball Championship held at the US Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on November 23, 2019. (Jack Dempsey/NCAA photos via Getty Images)

According to the criminal complaint, Brooke Slusser claimed she didn't know Fleming was transgender, even though they shared a room together on team trips. Slusser also expressed safety concerns about opponents playing against Fleming.

“Brooke estimated that Fleming's spines were moving at speeds in excess of 80 miles per hour, which was faster than she had ever seen a woman hit a volleyball,” Slusser's complaint said, via the Cowboy State Daily. “The girls did everything they could to avoid Fleming's spikes, but still couldn't fully protect themselves.”

“One thing that is really important in this case is the physical safety issues in volleyball,” Slusser’s attorney Bill Bock told OutKick. “And they are confronted with that every day in practice. So it’s just a crazy, misguided policy that steals athletic dreams from women and gives them to men, while endangering women’s health and safety.”

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NCAA volleyballs at the Division I Men's Volleyball Championship held at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California on May 4, 2019. (Photos by John W. McDonough/NCAA via Getty Images)

Payton McNabb, a former high school volleyball player from North Carolina, has been one of the sport's most outspoken advocates for transgender athletes.

In September 2022, McNabb was injured at a high school volleyball game when a transgender athlete on the opposing team spiked her volleyball and hit her in the face, causing her to fall backwards and suffer a concussion and a neck injury.

She continues to suffer of long-term physical and mental injuries caused by the incident.

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