In a recent press release that came out on Tuesday, it was announced that the University of Wyoming volleyball team would be forfeiting their conference matchup against San Jose State which was slated to take place this Saturday.
“After a lengthy discussion, the University of Wyoming will not play its scheduled conference match against San José State University in the UniWyo Sports Complex on Saturday, Oct. 5,” the press release read.
Though no official explanation was given for the forfeit, this decision likely came to light with the recent controversy surrounding the San Jose State volleyball program, with the controversy centered around a transgender athlete who’s competing on their team.
Wyoming’s athletic director Tom Burman met with the media on Monday, where he discussed the importance of the decision before the university had decided to forfeit the match.
“We will have a team meeting and talk about it, and we are looking at weighing all the issues related to it. It’s a very complex issue, and I believe it’s not [a decision] that we should make without including those who it impacts the most, which are our student-athletes,” Burman said.
The University of Wyoming is not the first school to decide to forfeit a game against San Jose State. Most recently, interconference rival Boise State also forfeited one of their matchups against San Jose State. During the non-conference portion of the season, Southern Utah University was the first school to refuse to play San Jose State.
Wyoming governor Mark Gordon has come out in support of the Cowgirls decision with a statement released on the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter).
“I am in full support of the decision by [Wyoming athletics] to forego playing its volleyball match against San Jose State. It is important we stand for integrity and fairness in female athletics,” Gordon said in his post.
Similarly, Idaho governor Brad Little also came out in support of the Boise State volleyball team after they decided to forfeit against San Jose State.
In compliance with Mountain West Conference policies, the forfeit will unfortunately register as a loss towards the Cowgirls’ conference record. At the time of writing, San Jose State is currently undefeated.
