EXCLUSIVE: Brooke Slusser Says SJSU ‘Ruined’ Volleyball Program By Suspending Coach Batie-Smoose

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Things have been rapidly deteriorating for the San Jose State women’s volleyball team for weeks, but for the players, it got a lot worse over the weekend.

Less than two hours prior to their match against New Mexico on Saturday, the school informed the players that associate head coach Melissa Batie-Smoose was put on leave and would not be with the team, indefinitely. 

Batie-Smoose filed a Title IX complaint against the school alleging favoritism towards transgender player Blaire Fleming and, by doing so, violated the rights of the women on the team. 

The assistant coach also gave a lengthy interview with the news outlet Quillette, which the school seems to have deemed as violating policy and led to her suspension. 

Brooke Slusser, co-captain of the volleyball team, spoke to OutKick about the situation and expressed that she and her teammates were floored by the decision. 

“We aren’t happy, and we don’t feel safe anymore,” Slusser said. 

“Melissa was that person that we felt like as long as she was there, we had someone that would stand up for us. And now there’s no one there that will.” 

Slusser then took aim at San Jose State. 

“I don’t think the school sees how much they just basically ruined this program by taking Melissa away from us,” she said. “So, who knows what’s to come in the future [with regard] to what our team will do or how we will react from this.” 

Slusser recounted how the entire situation played out, which started with each player on the team receiving a text asking them to meet prior to warmups for Saturday’s game. 

“None of the coaching staff was at the meeting, it was just the players,” she recalled. “Some man from the university … sat our team down and said that [Coach Batie-Smoose] has been put on leave, will not be back and players were not supposed to reach out to her or speak to her at all.

“As of right now, tensions are very high for my team with how angry we are now that Melissa’s gone. Emotions are through the roof right now.” 

Slusser said the meeting was brief, and the players had only a few minutes to gather themselves before they were scheduled to take the court for their pregame routine. 

“A few girls broke down into tears when we found out and everyone was in shock,” Slusser told OutKick. “Melissa was such a backbone for a lot of us and was that support system a lot of us went to for everything.” 

San Jose State University suspended associate head volleyball coach Melissa Batie-Smoose less than two hours before a match against New Mexico

As for how the players managed to gather themselves to play an important Mountain West match, a match that they won, Slusser said they had to lean on each other. 

“I went up to one of my teammates and I said, ‘I need your support today on the court. I’m struggling right now.’ And it was hard for me to be able to get through that match.” 

Slusser posted on X after the match about the school suspending Batie-Smoose, and she referred to it as SJSU firing the assistant coach. 

I asked her why she used the word “fired” even though the school told the players that she was suspended. 

“To the public, they’re saying that she’s just pending on leave, and they don’t really know what’s going to happen yet. But everything that they’ve shown us with their actions, they have fired her.” 

Slusser expressed that she felt Batie-Smoose’s support of Slusser and the other women on the team who expressed concern about Blaire Fleming, a transgender biological male, made the school anxious to try and get rid of her. 

“I know that [SJSU administrators] weren’t happy that she was supporting me. And she showed from the beginning that she agreed with my opinions that I’ve voiced and the actions that I’ve taken,” Slusser said. 

“And they weren’t happy about it because, obviously, they decided to fully support having a man on the team and not wanting to support anyone but that one person.

“I think her speaking publicly finally gave them a legal reason to get rid of her.” 

RELATED: Virtue-Signaling Media Refusing To Name Trans Volleyball Player Blaire Fleming Is Wrong | Dan Zaksheske

Slusser also explained what she meant when she referred to the associate head coach as “the only safe space” in the program.

“She’s literally the mother of the team, that person that anyone could go and talk to about anything and feel heard,” Slusser said. “The fact that they took that away, now there’s no safe space anymore to go and speak freely among anyone in our coaching staff. And I think that’s the hardest part about this whole thing.” 

Despite the repercussions, Brooke Slusser reiterated multiple times that she was happy that Batie-Smoose spoke out publicly

“I am so proud of her for speaking the truth. Everyone on the team appreciated it, and a lot of the girls in the locker room said how happy they were that she finally was able to speak out [on a situation] that we all knew needed to be talked about,” Slusser said. 

The Spartans have just five scheduled games left in their regular season before the Mountain West conference tournament. Boise State, which forfeited against San Jose State earlier this season, has already announced that they are also forfeiting the Nov. 21 contest. 

Wyoming, which forfeited its first match against SJSU, is scheduled to play against them again on Nov. 14. OutKick reached out to Wyoming to ask if they planned to forfeit that match, as well, but they did not respond to a request for comment. 

Regardless of how many games are officially left in the San Jose State season, they’re going to have to move forward without Batie-Smoose. 

The Spartans are next scheduled to take the court on Thursday against UNLV.