California volleyball players talk about rejection of playing trans athlete in playoffs

A California high school girls’ volleyball playoff game on October 22 was the subject of national attention due to the presence of a transgender athlete. Two female players on the opposing team who refused to take the field that night have now come forward to talk about their decision.

Jurupa Valley High School, which put trans athlete AB Hernandez on its girls team, lost to Valencia High School in straight sets in front of a crowd of protesters wearing “Save Girls Sports” gear. It marked the end of Jurupa’s controversial season, which had been marred by at least 10 losses, and Hernandez’s high school volleyball career.

The parents of two female Valencia players who chose not to play that night provided a joint statement written by the two girls to Pakinomist Digital on condition of anonymity.

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“On October 18, our team was informed that we would be playing Jurupa Valley High School in Round 1 of the CIF. As we scouted the team, we quickly realized that they had a transgender player that we would be competing against on October 22. Ten other teams had previously lost to Jurupa, which alerted our team and made us consider whether or not to play,” he says.

“Because of our beliefs and values, we decided to sit out and not participate in our first round CIF (California Interscholastic Federation). We believe that allowing men in women’s sports is unfair, creates safety concerns and goes against our beliefs. We value fair competition and integrity in volleyball, and our hope is to continue playing the sport we love without having to be in a wrong position.”

The two girls continued to cite their Christian faith as a reason not to play, insisting their actions were not aimed directly at Hernandez.

“As Christians, our decision to sit out this game was not difficult to make, but it was uncomfortable to be the only ones who did it. We chose not only to sit out from playing, but also not to participate in the game, as a way to show our position and our disagreement. Our goal was not to single out AB Hernandez, but to express our belief that sports, men and women, should not continue.

“Our decision was not made out of hatred or discrimination against anyone, but rather out of our convictions of justice and faith. It is our hope that the integrity of women’s sports is honored and preserved.”

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The Oct. 22 match wasn’t even Hernandez’s first playoff high school volleyball game. Hernandez had competed for Jurupa Valley each of the past three years and also went to the postseason in 2024.

But the added national attention and controversy hit the team this year after Hernandez was thrust into the center of a political conflict between President Donald Trump and California Gov. Gavin Newsom at the end of the spring track and field season.

Hernandez made it to the girls’ state finals in the long jump, triple jump and high jump, prompting Trump to send a Truth Social post in the days leading up to the event warning Newsom and the state not to allow a trans athlete to compete in the girls’ events. Trump signed an executive order banning schools from allowing biological males to play in girls’ sports in February, but the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) has persistently defied it.

Instead, the CIF changed its rules to award any female athlete who competed in the same events as Hernandez a place in the competition or a place higher on the medal podium if they finished behind a biologically male athlete.

Hernandez then took first place in the high jump and triple jump and second place in the long jump.

The rule change resulted in Hernandez sharing podium spots with female athletes who finished behind the trans athlete in the state finals.

Then, shortly after this year’s volleyball season began, two of Jurupa Valley’s senior players, McPherson and Hadeel Hazameh, stepped away from the team in protest against the trans athlete.

McPherson and Hazameh have too filed suit against the Jurupa Unified School District, citing their experience playing and sharing a locker room with Hernandez the previous three seasons. McPherson’s older sister and former JVHS girls volleyball player Madison McPherson is the third plaintiff in this lawsuit.

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the CIF and the California Department of Education in July for refusing to change its transgender policy to comply with Trump’s “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” weeks after Hernandez’s track and field championships.

And now that the fall sports season is coming to an end, Hernandez is still eligible to compete in another girls season in the spring.