A San Diego State women's volleyball player was struck in the face during Thursday night's match between San Diego State and San Jose State University in a play involving redshirt senior Blaire Fleming, a transgender athlete who has been the focus of a recent controversy, which has caused several schools to forfeit their matches against the team.
The incident took place during the second set, with the Aztecs ahead 22-12 against the Spartans. At that moment, Blaire Fleming was set up by her teammate, Brooke Slusser, and launched a powerful spike that hit San Diego State's Keira Herron in the face. Herron was knocked to the ground after being struck.
Crowd Left Shocked
The crowd gasped audibly. However, Herron promptly got back on her feet and continued playing. "Keira Herron has some pink in her hair and her face is starting to look like she's matching that as obviously she took the contact," the broadcast announcer said in the video.
San Jose State went on to lose the match in straight sets, bringing their season record down to 9-2.
This incident occurs in the midst of controversy surrounding the university's volleyball program. So far, four schools—Boise State, Southern Utah, Wyoming, and Utah State—have forfeited matches against San Jose State this season.
The forfeitures come after Fleming's teammate, Brooke Slusser, recently joined former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines and other female athletes in a lawsuit against the NCAA.
They argue that its policies on transgender athletes undermine the fairness and integrity of women's sports and pose risks to female athletes.
In the lawsuit, Slusser stated that she was unaware Fleming was transgender, despite sharing rooms during team trips.
Concerns Over Players' Safety
Slusser also voiced concerns about the safety of opponents competing against Fleming. "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 said, via the Cowboy State Daily.
"The girls were doing everything they could to dodge Fleming's spikes but still could not fully protect themselves."
"One thing that's important in this case is really the physical safety issues in volleyball," Slusser's attorney, Bill Bock, told OutKick.
"And that's what they're facing in practice every day. So, it's just a crazy, misguided policy that steals athletic dreams from women and gives them to men, and, at the same time, puts women's health and safety in danger."
A San Jose State University spokesperson informed Fox News Digital on Thursday that no future opponents have notified the team of any intentions to forfeit upcoming matches.
"We have no notifications of cancelations at this time. We are scheduled to play home games tonight against San Diego State and Saturday against UNLV," the spokesperson said.
The team has 13 regular-season games left, including a rematch with San Diego State. The schedule also features second matches against three of the four teams that previously forfeited their first game against the Spartans.
