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It was always going to be a tough act to follow.
San Jose’s SAN Jose volleyball team was eliminated from the Western Conference tournament with a loss on Saturday to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and finished with an 8-16 record in conference play.
Different Expectations of SJSU, finishing seventy in the mountain West after it was expected to finish 11 in the conference coaches after the controversy involving Trans Athlete Blaire in 2024.
Head Coach Todd Kress Kress led the team last year to the conference title but had eight wins, including a conference semifinal, given a conference loss. SJSU previously made the final conference call with Fleming in 2022, the trans athlete’s first year with the Spartans under the former head coach.
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The involved controversy resulted in two lawsuits during 2024, a federal investigation by the US Department of Education and mass expulsions. At least seven returning players from 2024 entered the transfer portal in December after the end of the season.
The controversial 2024 season included eight losing games, constant police protection, national scrutiny and internal turmoil between players and coaches.
Kess previously said the 2024 deadline was one of the “toughest” of his life. Kress has 21 wins in NCAA women’s volleyball history as a head coach.
“This has been one of the most difficult seasons I have ever faced, and I know this is true for many of our players and the staff who have been supporting us all the time and the well-being of my players during the external noise has always been very important,” said Kherese.
Ex-SJSU Star Brooke Slusser is making new allegations about investigating a trans group organization to harm her
Kersten was the coach who recruited SJSU as a Coastal Carolina transfer. Kerste then stepped down after the 2022 season and was replaced by Keresta.
Former SJSU CO-Captain Brooke Slusser transferred to SJSU from Alabama in 2023
Then in September 2024, Slusser joined a lawsuit against the NCAA alleging that SJSU officials withheld information about Fleming’s birth from him and other players on the team. Slusser said that he was made to share changing rooms and sleep with Fleming without knowing that Fleming was a man.
Slusser, along with several other players at Mounse West, filed a separate lawsuit against the conference and San Jose State in November 2024 for Fleming’s presence. That law included testimony from former San Jose State Volleyball players Alyssa Sugai and Elle Patterson who said they were transferred by academics interested in studying.
Assistant Coach Melissa Batie-Smoose was suspended from the program at the beginning of November after filing an IX complaint against the university for showing other players, especially Slusser. Batie-Smoose’s complaint also included allegations of Fleming’s plot to have the slusser framed in the face.
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Brooke Slusser (10) and Blaire Fleming (3) of the San Jose State Spartans drive the game during the first draft against Falcon Force Court at the East Gym Oct.9, 2024, in Colorado Springs, Colo. (Andrew Wevers/Getty Images)
Batie-Smoose’s contract was not renewed by the school in late January. The coach then filed his lawsuit against the Board of Trustees of the California State University (CSU) System. SJSU is one of 23 California-based schools that are part of the program.
Batie-Smoose told fox digital news that SJSU settled for a special diversity ban on female athletes.
“Not showing up to practice without excuses, sitting on stations eating while practice was going on, that kind of stuff,” Batie-Smoose said in an exception reserved for Fleming.
Fleming previously responded to Batie-Smoose’s request and confronted Slusser in a social exchange with FOX News Digital.
“The only time I showed it was working on ‘No Excuses’ and we sat on the stations there where I was injured and I couldn’t play. Melissa needs to get healthy,” said Melissa.
After the 2024 volleyball season, Slusser fled SJSU after allegations of harassment and threats from other students in response to her previous anti-implantation speech. He returned to his parents’ home in Texas to finish the school year away and now works as a youth volleyball coach in North Carolina.
Fleming praised the famous graduate from SJSU in a social media post in May.
The University of Nevada, Reno, which was involved in the 2024 controversy of trying to have its players compete with SJSU and Fleming despite opting out, finished the 2025 season with an 8-20 record.
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