San Jose State’s women’s volleyball team had two players listed on the Mountain West’s all-conference honorable mention list this year who are also on opposing sides of explosive lawsuits.
Senior Blaire Fleming came in at fourth on the list, while Brooke Slusser was listed fifth.
Slusser is part of two lawsuits alleging the university and Fleming actively sought to prevent Slusser and other players on the team from knowing Fleming is a biological male.
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The 2024 Mountain West volleyball season all-conference honorable mentions include San Jose State players Blaire Fleming and Brooke Slusser. (Courtesy of the Mountain West)
On the court, Fleming and Slusser anchored one of the best offenses in the Mountain West.
The Spartans finished the regular season with the third-best hitting percentage in the conference.
Slusser finished with a top 10 individual hitting percentage in the conference.
Fleming was second in the conference in kills per set with a .386, still well behind Colorado State’s Malaya Jones, who led the way at .457.
Fleming had a signature moment in the second-to-last game of the season against first-place Colorado State at home on Senior Day. Fleming led the game in kills with 24 and total attacks and clinched victory in the fifth set with a match-point service ace.
Right after the play, Fleming was swarmed by teammates in celebration. Even Slusser got involved. This group celebration took place just days after Slusser and other Mountain West players filed a second lawsuit over Fleming’s presence on the team against San Jose State and the conference.
Slusser previously joined a lawsuit against the NCAA headed by former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines over the governing body’s policies on gender ideology that have allowed transgender athletes to compete as women.
In both lawsuits, Slusser has alleged Fleming’s spikes travel at 80 mph.
“Brooke estimates that Fleming’s spikes were traveling upward of 80 mph, which was faster than she had ever seen a woman hit a volleyball,” Slusser’s complaint states. “The girls were doing everything they could to dodge Fleming’s spikes but still could not fully protect themselves.”
Fleming previously set a single-game record at John Champe High School with 30 kills in a match and a single-season record of 266 kills for the school’s girls’ volleyball team.
Footage from the athlete’s Hudl page of the school-record 30-kill match in September 2019 shows how hard and fast Fleming’s spikes came down at the high school level against girl opponents.
Brooke Slusser, left, and Blaire Fleming of the San Jose State Spartans call a play during the first set against the Air Force Falcons at Falcon Court at East Gym Oct. 19, 2024, in Colorado Springs, Colo. (Andrew Wevers/Getty Images)
President-elect Trump even commented about footage of one of Fleming’s plays in which the player spiked a ball at San Diego State player Keira Herron in a match earlier this season.
“I saw the slam. It was a slam. I never saw a ball hit so hard,” Trump said during a Fox News town hall before he was elected to a second term. “But other people, even in volleyball, they’ve been permanently — I mean, they’ve been hurt really badly. Women playing men.”
In another match against New Mexico Oct. 18, one of Fleming’s spikes knocked an opposing player to the court.
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Despite the lawsuits and the controversy, Slusser and the rest of her teammates have taken the court with Fleming during a seaon that has included several forfeits.
San Jose State finished with a 12-6 conference record, earning a No. 2 seed in the Mountain West Tournament. The team achieved this with six of those 12 wins coming via forfeit after Utah State, Boise State, Nevada and Wyoming all refused to face the program amid the ongoing controversy involving Fleming. Boise State and Wyoming each forfeited two matches against San Jose State.
In matches they’ve played, Fleming’s spiking ability is the centerpiece of the team’s strategy. Even Slusser has set up Fleming for one of the athlete’s feared spikes throughout the season while being part of the lawsuit that has alleged safety concerns with those spikes.
As the team gears up to play in the Mountain West tournament in Las Vegas this week, it is bound to face a team that has already forfeited a match against San Jose State.
Blaire Fleming of the San Jose State Spartans attacks the net during the first set against the Air Force Falcons at Falcon Court at East Gym Oct. 19, 2024, in Colorado Springs, Colo. (Andrew Wevers/Getty Images)
Utah State and Boise State will meet in the quarterfinals for the right to advance and face San Jose State in the semifinal after the Spartans got a first-round bye.
Slusser previously told Fox News Digital her team doesn’t know if the Spartans’ upcoming tournament opponents will face them.
“We’re just mostly wondering, are teams even gonna play us, period, if we go there? Because of just everything that’s happened this season,” Slusser said. “It seems like every few days it looks like it’ll be a fine day and everything’s normal, and then something else happens. So, I truly do think everyone’s just kind of taking things day by day and taking the punches as they come.”
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