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A whopping seven members of San Jose State University’s female volleyball team have registered themselves with a “transport portal” in the wake of the team’s transgender player controversy.

A “transport portal” is basically a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) list of students who’re open to being recruited by and moving to another school for one reason or another.

In this case, team players Nayeli T’ia, Mari Lawton, Ava Martin, Laurel Barsocchini, Kiyana Faupula, Jade Epps, and Teya Nguyen have all registered with the “portal,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

“If all seven players who entered the portal leave the program, it would represent one more transfer than the team lost following the 2023 season,” the Chronicle notes.

Why is there a rush to leave the team? Presumably because of Blaire Fleming, a biological man who plays on the same team as a purported woman. His tenure on the team has been rocked by massive controversy for obvious reasons.

The controversy has led to multiple other teams forfeiting their matches with San Jose State University’s team, lest their players be injured by Fleming.

In a statement issued to Fox News, the university expressed “respect” for the seven outgoing players.

“Student athletes have the ability to make decisions about their college athletic careers, and we have the utmost respect for that,” the statement reads.

In a statement of his own, head coach Todd Kress said this past season was the “most difficult” of his career.

“This has been one of the most difficult seasons I’ve ever experienced, and I know this is true as well for many of our players and the staff who have been supporting us all along,” he said. “Maintaining our focus on the court and ensuring the overall safety and well-being of my players amid the external noise have been my priorities.”

Kress also blamed the forfeiting schools for drawing more negative attention to his embattled team.

“Sadly, others who for years have played this same team without incident chose not to play us this season,” he said. “To be clear, we did not celebrate a single win by forfeiture. Instead, we braced for the fallout. Each forfeiture announcement unleashed appalling, hateful messages individuals chose to send directly to our student-athletes, our coaching staff and many associated with our program.”

The good news for him is that Fleming is no longer eligible for the team because the just-completed season was his fourth and final collegiate season playing college volleyball (he originally played as a male).

All this comes months after team co-captain Brooke Slusser joined a lawsuit against the NCAA accusing the league of withholding information about Fleming’s true identity from other team members.

“Slusser alleged she was made to share changing and sleeping spaces with Fleming without knowing that Fleming was a biological male,” Fox News notes.

Slusser, along with a few other players, also filed their own suit against the NCAA and San Jose University.

“That lawsuit included testimony from former San Jose State volleyball players Alyssa Sugai and Elle Patterson alleging they were passed over for scholarships in favor of Fleming,” according to Fox News.

The lawsuit also claimed that Fleming had conspired with another player to spike a ball in Slusser’s face during an Oct. 3rd game.

Meanwhile, former assistant coach Melissa Batie-Smoose was reportedly suspended in November after she dared to file a Title IX complaint against the school for favoring Fleming over others.

Slusser previously told Fox News that Batie-Smoose’s suspension greatly affected her and the other women on the team.

“After we found out that she was released, a lot of the team just kind of broke down and was kind of freaking out, and even one of my teammates was like, ‘I don’t feel safe anymore,’ because there’s no one now that we feel like we can go and talk to about our concerns or our actual feelings and can actually speak freely in front of,” she said.

“You can’t truly voice how you’re feeling without them just trying to cover it up or act like it’s all OK. With Melissa, you could voice how you felt, and she could comfort you and validate your feelings and at least make you feel heard compared to the other coaches,” she added.

Vivek Saxena
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