The latest battleground in America’s culture war over gender identity will take place Saturday on a volleyball court in Las Vegas.

San Jose State University said it was “disappointed” after Boise State dropped out of the end-of-season women’s volleyball championship rather than play the Spartans, whose team features a biological male.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — San Jose State said Thursday it was disappointed Boise State forfeited its semifinal match in the Mountain West women's volleyball tournament but that the Spartans were focused on the future.

The issue resurfaced after San Jose State’s fast start to the 2024 season. The Spartans were initially scheduled to face Southern Utah as part of the Santa Clara Tournament on Sept. 14, but the match was abruptly canceled. Boise State elected not to play its scheduled Mountain West Conference match against San Jose State on Sept. 28.

Boise State withdrew rather than play San Jose State, which received six forfeit victories because of boycotts from Mountain West opponents.

The San Jose State University Spartans women’s volleyball team, which is at the center of a national debate over the inclusion of transgender women in women’s sports, advanced to its conference championship on Saturday without having played a single game in the tournament.

Boise State’s women’s volleyball team has withdrawn from its Mountain West Conference Championship tournament match against San Jose State University (SJSU) amid an ongoing, gender controversy surrounding an SJSU player.

Twice during the regular season, the Boise State women’s volleyball team took a moral stand by forfeiting matches against San Jose State rather than competing against a player believed to be transgender.