A San Diego State women's volleyball player was punched in the face during a play with redshirt senior Blair Fleming during a game against San Jose State on Thursday night. Blair Fleming is a transgender athlete who has been at the center of recent controversy, including several schools pulling out of games against San Jose State University. team.
The incident occurred during the second set when the Aztecs were leading 22-12.
In a video shared on social media, Fleming spiked the ball, which hit SDSU junior Keira Herron in the face.
Herron was knocked down after the blow, and the crowd gasped.
She quickly got up and resumed playing.
“Keira Heron's hair has a pink color to it, and obviously since she reached out, her face is starting to look to match that,” the broadcast announcer said in the video.
SJSU fell to 9-2, losing in straight sets.
The incident comes amid controversy surrounding the school's program.
Four schools have forfeited games against San Jose State this season, including Boise State, Southern Utah, Wyoming and Utah State.
The disqualification follows Fleming's teammate Brooke Slusser, who last month sued the NCAA over its policies regarding transgender athletes, along with former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines and several other female athletes. They argue that it undermines the fairness and integrity of women's competitive sports and threatens the status of women. At risk.
According to the suit, Slusser claimed he did not know Fleming was transgender, even though they shared a room on a team trip.
Slusser also expressed concern for the safety of Fleming's opponents.
According to the Cowboy State Daily, Slusser's complaint states, “Brook estimates that Fleming's spike speed was in excess of 80 miles per hour, which is more than the speed at which a woman hits a volleyball.” It was faster than anything I've ever seen.”
“Although the girls were doing their best to avoid Fleming's spikes, they were still unable to fully protect themselves.”
“One of the important things about this case is the issue of physical safety in volleyball,” Bill Bock, Slusser's attorney, told Outkick.
“And that's what they face in their daily practice. So this is just a crazy misguided move that takes the dream of athletics away from women and gives it to men, and at the same time puts women's health and safety at risk.” It is the policy of
A San Jose State University spokesperson told Fox News Digital on Thursday that the team has not been notified of any plans to forfeit future games from future opponents.
“We have not received any cancellations at this time. We are scheduled to play home games against San Diego State tonight and UNLV on Saturday,” the spokesperson said.
The team has 13 games remaining in the regular season, including a rematch with San Diego State.
The schedule also includes second games against three of the four teams that have already been eliminated in the first game against the Spartans.
FOX News' Jackson Thompson contributed to this report.
