Witnesses at a state legislative hearing in Boise, Idaho, on Thursday gave accounts of the “horror” some college women’s volleyball players experienced during the 2024 season amid a national controversy involving a trans athlete.

The testimony came during a hearing to discuss the passage of the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, which has been proposed by Idaho state representative Barbara Erhardt.

San Jose State University, whose volleyball team set player Blaire Fleiming, and the Mountain West Conference are facing a lawsuit from several female volleyball players who allege the school withheld the fact that Fleming is a biological male from players. The lawsuit also claimed that Fleming was given a roster spot and scholarship over female players who claim to have been emotionally and financially affected by the experience.

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Fleming led the Spartans all the way to the Mountain West Championship game midway through the trial. However, eight of San Jose State’s games were forfeited by opponents in the wake of the controversy, including a conference tournament semifinal game against Boise State.

Boise State lost a total of three games against SJSU in 2024 and was praised by Erhardt and other speakers during the hearing for the decision.

A parent of a player in the conference told her about the situation Thursday. She also condemned all the schools that did not lose to SJSU.

“I’m an Idaho mom who experienced it firsthand with a daughter who played in the Mountain West Conference,” said a woman named April Cheney.

“NCAA President Charlie Baker, Mountain West Commissioner Gloria Nevarez and all Mountain West college presidents and athletic directors who did not boycott, you failed to protect women’s sports. NCAA and Mountain West Conference, I blame you for the season that took a year of eligibility, forced losses to record as losses, and a conference championship that was an absolute disgrace!”

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Former NCAA swimmer and prominent conservative influencer Riley Gaines, who regularly organizes with other female athletes affected by trans inclusion and is leading a lawsuit against the NCAA over the issue, revealed her account of what the players went through, based on discussions with them.

“They were emotionally blackmailed into thinking they were the problem,” Gaines said of the players, adding that Boise State was the only university that showed administrative support for players who wanted to forfeit.

“The overwhelming majority of them did not want this brought upon them. Nobody asked for this, it’s not a situation they wanted to be in,” Gaines added. “These girls were terrified, they were afraid to stand tall, they were afraid to stand up for themselves, they were afraid of the things that would potentially come if they just said ‘Men and women are different’.”

Marshi Smith, co-founder of the legal advocacy group Independent Council on Women’s Sports, gave testimony in which she claimed the female athletes participating in the lawsuit felt threatened with retaliation from their university if they spoke out against trans inclusion.

“What will they do to us because we say so?” the players often asked, according to Smith.

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Smith elaborated on those players’ questions in a follow-up statement to Pakinomist Digital.

“They’re often afraid of losing scholarships or being kicked off their team. At San Jose State, administrators exploited that fear by telling them to keep quiet because it’s Blaire Fleming’s story to tell, not their own,” Smith said.

San Jose State has released a statement to Pakinomist Digital in response to the statements made at Thursday’s hearing.

“All San Jose State University student-athletes are eligible to participate in their sports under NCAA and Mountain West Conference rules,” the statement read.

Smith also claims that volleyball players at the University of Nevada, Reno, were threatened with legal action if they refused to compete against San Jose State in a match scheduled for October but never played.

“At UNR, school administrators warned athletes that they could face legal action if they refused to compete against SJSU’s team, which included a male starter,” Smith said.

Nevada has not responded to Smith’s allegations when requested for comment. The university previously issued a statement saying the athletes were free not to play the game without discipline and that it continued to fight to comply with state laws aimed at preventing discrimination against transgender people.

After the players asked their university to forfeit to SJSU weeks before the game, the university denied the request and issued a statement insisting they would play the game. But when the players went public with their complaints about the situation, weeks of controversy sparked. In the end, Nevada had to cancel the game on October 25, just one day before it was scheduled to be played, because it did not have enough players willing to play.

But even with losses to Nevada, Boise State, Utah State, Southern Utah and Wyoming this season, dozens of other players were still forced to play against Fleming, some without even knowing the nature of the player’s birth sex.

Their first opponent of the season, Louisiana Tech, took the court against Fleming without knowing the player’s biological sex.

Louisiana Tech head volleyball coach Amber McCray confirmed to Pakinomist Digital that her team did not know about the situation involving Fleming’s natural birth sex, and they only found out about it the day after the game via rumors from parents.

LA Tech athletic director Ryan Ivey suggested that had they known Fleming’s natural birth sex, the team “would have sought ‘a different outcome'” in emails obtained by Pakinomist Digital.

Then there are Fleming’s own teammates, including former SJSU co-captain Brooke Slusser, who is leading the lawsuit against the Mountain West and who also signed on to Gaines’ lawsuit against the NCAA, citing her experience with Fleming.

Slusser has told Pakinomist Digital that the experience has been “traumatic.”

“This season has been so traumatizing that I don’t even have the proudest moment,” Slusser said.

In Slusser’s ongoing lawsuit against SJSU and the Mountain West, her list of plaintiffs also includes players Alyssa Sugai, Elle Patterson, Sia Liilii, Nicanora Clarke, Kaylie Ray, Macey Boggs, Sierra Grizzle, Jordan Sandy, Katelyn Van Kirk, Kiersten Van Kirk and former SJSU assistant volleyball coach Melissa Batie-Smoose.

SJSU has also recently acknowledged a recent mass exodus of volleyball players entering the transfer portal as nearly all remaining players still eligible are now looking to leave the program.

“Student athletes have the ability to make decisions about their college athletic careers, and we have the utmost respect for that,” a statement read.