A female athlete at San Jose State Spartan women’s volleyball team He said they were “devastated” that their assistant coach was suddenly fired after opposing the inclusion of a transgender athlete on the team.

San Jose State Spartan women’s volleyball assistant head coach Melissa Batie-Smoose has been suspended indefinitely after the team’s transgender player, Blaire Fleming, filed a Title IX complaint against the school, claiming she conspired with her opponent to help the team lose the match. and injured his teammate Brooke Slusser.

SAN JOSE STATE TRANS VOLLEYBALL PLAYER RECEIVES 250TH LOCK OF THE SEASON AS TEAM FACES SAFETY AND COMPETITION CONCERNS

Melissa Batie-Smoose was terminated after filing a Title IX complaint. (Fox News Channel)

Appearing on “America Reports” on Tuesday, Slusser said Batie-Smoose’s firing came as a shock to female athletes who relied on her to vent their frustrations about playing with a biological male on their all-female teams. set.

“I think as you can imagine, he was the one person that everybody felt comfortable and able to voice their opinion and really say what they felt about the whole situation,” Slusser said. “And they took that away from us… everyone was devastated. It was terrible, especially finding out minutes before the game.”

Batie-Smoose previously told OutKick that she was told not to talk to the media after her termination and accused the school of trying to “silence people speaking up for First Amendment rights and what’s right.”

She added that she wanted to “make sure I stand strong that only women should be involved in women’s sports.”

San Jose State published a statement to OutKick following Batie-Smoose’s suspension.

San Jose State Spartans player Brooke Slusser has a lawsuit filed against the team. (Courtesy of San Jose State Athletics)

“The assistant head coach of the San Jose State University women’s volleyball team is not currently with the team and we will not be providing any further information on this matter,” the team said.

The school became the focus of a national partisan debate between gender identity rights and the sanctity of women’s sports during a heated election year. Slusser made headlines after joining a lawsuit against the NCAA, alleging that San Jose State failed to warn any of its recruits that there was a transgender athlete on the team. Slusser says he played with Fleming for two seasons, sharing the locker room and rooms on nightly outings without being told Fleming was a biological male.

POLICE FIGHT TO PROTECT WOMEN ATHLETES THREATENED BY THE TRANSGENDER CULTURE WAR IN SAN JOSE STATE

From front left to right, San Jose State setter Brooke Slusser celebrates after scoring a point with libero Randilyn Reeves, hitter Blaire Fleming and libero Alessia Buffagni in the first set of an NCAA college volleyball match against Colorado State on Thursday, Oct. 3. 2024 in Fort Collins, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

The national controversy has led to the cancellation of seven games this season.

“It’s sad that the school still chooses to prioritize one guy’s needs over the entire team and is therefore willing to cut our season short,” Slusser said on “America Reports.” “It’s surprising that other teams in the conference could stand up and say no, we’re not doing that, but yet our school is okay with having a person on our team who is causing all these problems and still won’t get rid of them.”

The volleyball team leader previously made a statement to Fox News Digital. exclusive interview She said the university’s handling of the situation left her feeling “unsafe” and in a vulnerable position following multiple threats to her life.

CLICK TO REACH THE FOX NEWS APPLICATION

“Whatever people’s views are, whether they want to support not allowing trans people in the NCAA, whether they support it, whatever they think, obviously there are two sides to me being on the team and Blaire being on the team. Slusser said, “people these days have a fear of never knowing what they’re even going to do. ” he said.

The team now travels with armed security as it continues to dominate the national conversation about the inclusion of transgender athletes on women’s teams.