Nevarez from MWC: The volleyball situation at San Jose St. breaks your heart

LAS VEGAS — Mountain West Conference commissioner Gloria Nevarez said Thursday that the losses women's volleyball teams would take to avoid facing San Jose State “are not what we do in college athletics.” celebrate,” and that she is heartbroken about what has happened this season around the Spartans and their opponents.

Four teams canceled games against San Jose State: Boise State, Southern Utah, Utah State and Wyoming, although none of the schools explicitly explained why they forfeited.

A group of Nevada players issued a statement saying they would not take the field when the Wolf Pack hosts the Spartans on Oct. 26. The players cited their “right to safety and fair competition,” although their school reiterated Thursday that the game was still scheduled and that state law prohibits forfeiture “for reasons related to gender identity or expression.” “.

All of these schools, with the exception of Southern Utah, are in the Mountain West. New Mexico, also in the MWC, played a home game against the Spartans on Thursday night.

“It breaks my heart because it's people, young people, student-athletes on both sides of this issue who are receiving a lot of negative attention across the country,” Nevarez said in an interview with The Associated Press at Mountain West Basketball Media Days. “It just doesn’t feel right to me.”

The Republican governors of Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming have issued public statements supporting the cancellations, citing the need for fairness in women's sports. Former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee in this year's presidential race, referenced an unidentified volleyball game this week when asked about transgender athletes in women's sports during a Fox News panel.

“I saw the slam, it was a slam. “I've never seen a ball hit that hard, hit that girl in the head,” Trump replied before being asked what could be done. “They just ban it. The president forbids it. They just won’t let it happen.”

Following Trump's comments, San Diego State University issued a statement saying: “It was incorrectly reported that a San Diego State University student-athlete was struck in the face with a volleyball during a game against San Jose State University . The ball bounced off the student-athlete’s shoulder, and the athlete was uninjured and did not miss a play.”

San Jose State has not made any direct comments about the politicians' “fairness” emoluments, and Nevarez did not go into specifics.

“I’m learning a lot about the subject,” Nevarez said. “I don’t yet know much about the language, the science or the national understanding of how this issue plays out. The external influences are so far on both sides. It's an election year. It's political, so, yeah, it feels like a lost cause given all the outside pressure.”

The cancellations could result in some teams not qualifying for the Nov. 27-30 conference tournament in Las Vegas, where the top six schools are scheduled to compete for the championship.

“The student-athlete (in question) meets the eligibility requirements. So if a team doesn't play him, it's a loss, that means they suffer a defeat,” Nevarez said.