Wednesday marked a controversial end to the volleyball season for the girls’ team at Jurupa Valley High School in California. They faced a straight-set loss to Valencia High School in the first round of the state playoffs, which likely concludes AB Hernandez’s high school volleyball career as a trans athlete.
The 2025 season has been clouded by controversy surrounding Hernandez, leading to the team forfeiting its ten-game schedule. Two current teammates and one former teammate of Hernandez are suing the school district.
Despite the turmoil, Hernandez and her teammates finished the regular season as co-champions of the River Valley League and went on to play against Valencia in the playoffs. This game, however, was unlike any typical high school playoff. Several officials, including Leandra Blais from the Placentia-Yorba-Linda Unified School District, confirmed that at least one Valencia player opted out to avoid facing Hernandez.
In the crowd were various female sports activists, notably led by Sophia Rowley of the California Family Council. Some of these activists were local teenage girls who had previously competed with or against Hernandez.
A video submitted by Rowley showed spectators heckling her group during the game. Interestingly, this wasn’t Hernandez’s first appearance in playoff volleyball; she’d participated in the postseason every year for the last three years, including reaching the playoffs in 2024.
This season, however, heightened national attention surrounded Hernandez as she became a focal point in a political dispute involving President Donald Trump and California Governor Gavin Newsom. As Hernandez prepared for the state finals in track and field events, Trump posted a warning on social media against permitting trans athletes in girls’ competitions. Earlier in the year, he had signed an executive order seeking to bar biological males from participating in women’s sports, a move that the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) resisted.
The CIF responded by modifying rules to allow female athletes who competed in the same events as Hernandez to occupy a podium spot if they finished behind her. This meant that Hernandez, who excelled in events like the high jump and triple jump, would share podium recognition with the female athlete finishing second in those categories.
In July, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the CIF and California Department of Education for not aligning their transgender policies with Trump’s executive order. Newsom’s office attributed responsibility for the ongoing situation to both CIF and CDE, explaining that changing the law falls to the state Legislature.
In April, California’s State Legislature rejected two bills intending to overturn laws allowing men to compete in women’s sports. A Republican representative criticized a Democrat for making uncomfortable comparisons that had led some in the chamber to walk out. Ultimately, no policy adjustments were made, allowing Hernandez to continue competing and igniting protests from peers.
Jurupa Valley’s senior players, including McPherson and Hadeel Hazameh, distanced themselves from the team in protest against the inclusion of trans athletes. McPherson and Hazameh also initiated a lawsuit against the Jurupa Unified School District, citing their experiences in shared locker rooms with Hernandez. McPherson’s sister, a former player, joined as a third plaintiff in the case.
As the fall sports season wraps up, Hernandez remains eligible to compete in the women’s track and field season come spring.
