The Mountain West volleyball championship has become embroiled in more controversy after Colorado State players were slammed for kneeling during the national anthem.
The postseason tournament has already seen one team forfeit amid the ongoing storm surrounding trans player Blaire Fleming.
Her San Jose State team will now face Colorado State in the championship game after the Rams beat San Diego State.
But both teams have found themselves at the center of a storm in recent days. Fleming is the subject of lawsuits involving her own teammates – and even accusations that she conspired with a rival to hurt a teammate.
On Friday, her alleged co-conspirator, Malaya Jones, was one of three Colorado State players to kneel during the national anthem before facing San Diego State.
Only a few days ago, Jones was named Mountain West player of the year. But she is now facing criticism from supporters over refusing to stand for The Star Spangled Banner.
Several schools have refused to play women’s volleyball against San Jose State’s Blaire Fleming
Malaya Jones of Colorado State
CSU coach Emily Kohan explained after the game that the three players ‘have knelt since their freshman year, when the Black Lives Matter movement was going on…and we’ve all supported them along the way.’
But many fans on social media slammed the players, with one CSU former student branding it ‘pathetic and embarrassing.’
‘So embarrassed to be a graduate of there. USED to be such a great State College,’ they wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
‘Pull the scholarships,’ another fan said. ‘Kick them off the team,’ added a third.
A fourth wrote: ‘Shame on the Colorado State volleyball players. These girls have absolutely zero to protest. Ask them a question, why?
‘You will get gibberish from them. Colorado State alumni, something more to be not proud about.’
Jones was accused of meeting Fleming ahead of the team’s match on October 3. It’s claimed they engineered a plan to leave the center of the court open that Jones could target San Jose State co-captain Brooke Slusser with powerful spikes, or ‘kills’ for opposing Fleming’s inclusion in the team.
The Mountain West investigated the allegations against but said it failed to find enough evidence to support the accusations. Critics branded the probe ‘rushed, sloppy, incomplete, and infected with bias.’
Fleming is the subject of lawsuits involving her own teammates at San Jose State University
A judge denied a last-minute attempt to ban Fleming from the conference championship
Jones and Fleming will face off on Saturday, with an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament on the line.
San Jose State is in the championship game despite not having played a game. The Spartans were handed a first-round bye after a regular season that saw a number of opposition teams refuse to play.
And then, earlier this week, Boise State pulled out of the semifinal. The school did not name Fleming but a statement did bemoan that players had ‘to forgo this opportunity while waiting for a more thoughtful and better system that serves all athletes.’
Kohan said Colorado State will take the court rather than become the latest team to forfeit against San Jose State.
When asked about her players’ anthem gesture, she added: ‘In this program we raise critical thinkers to be able to make decisions for what’s important to them.
‘And for those three – they’re black players, it’s been important for them for five years and they’ve stood their ground – saying this is something they believe in.’
