SAN FRANCISCO — The Mountain West Conference has declared that it found no substantial evidence to support claims of misconduct involving women’s volleyball players from Colorado State and San Jose State prior to their match last month. This conclusion came after a Title IX complaint was filed by a coach alleging that the athletes were trying to manipulate the outcome of the game.
On October 29, Melissa Batie-Smoose, the associate head coach of San Jose State, presented her allegations to the conference. In a letter released on Friday, Deputy Commissioner Bret Gilliland informed the athletic directors of both universities about the findings from the investigation and confirmed that a detailed probe was quickly initiated in response to the serious claims.
According to Gilliland’s letter, the allegations suggested that players from both teams had “conspired to engage in manipulation of the competition” during the October 3 match held in Fort Collins, Colorado. San Jose State announced on Saturday that Batie-Smoose is currently not involved with the team. The university expressed its gratitude for the diligent and unbiased investigation carried out by the Mountain West Conference, stating that the findings aligned with their internal assessments.
This incident adds to the difficulties faced by the San Jose State Spartans during their 14-5 season. They managed to defeat Colorado State 3-2 at home this past Saturday, following their first loss of the season—a 3-0 sweep by the Rams on October 3. Throughout the season, Southern Utah, Boise State, Wyoming, Utah State, and Nevada have canceled games against the Spartans. The Nevada players have publicly expressed their refusal to compete in matches that they believe unjustly affect female athletes, although they did not disclose further details.
Since the cancelations come from teams within the Mountain West Conference, those games are treated as forfeits, effectively counting as wins for San Jose State. In a connected lawsuit against the NCAA, plaintiffs referenced reports suggesting that a transgender player is on the San Jose State volleyball team, mentioning her by name. However, neither San Jose State nor the forfeiting teams have confirmed the presence of a transgender woman on the team, and her name is being withheld since she has not publicly addressed her gender identity and has turned down requests for interviews through school officials.
Recently, another lawsuit was filed in Colorado by athletes from various schools against both the conference and San Jose State officials, aiming to disallow the participation of the Spartans’ player in the upcoming Mountain West volleyball championship scheduled for November 27-30 in Las Vegas.
San Jose State’s coach, Todd Kress, endorsed the conference’s conclusion that there was no manipulation in the Colorado State match. He remarked that the investigation’s findings mirrored his own review of the game video in conjunction with Colorado State’s head coach. “I have observed many inaccuracies in the media regarding this issue, and I trust that these findings address that,” Kress stated. “It has been my utmost goal to lead a women’s volleyball team that embodies integrity, and we are eager to continue with our season.”