Three Mountain West schools have forfeited women's volleyball games against San Jose State. Credit: Ricardo B. Brazziell / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

On Wednesday, former President Donald Trump said that he would ban transgender women from participating in all women’s sports if elected in November.

As part of that discussion at a town hall event, Trump also detailed a women’s volleyball match between San Diego State and San Jose State last Thursday in an attempt to make his point as to why that was necessary. 

San Jose State co-captain Brooke Slusser joined a lawsuit last month seeking to overturn NCAA rules that allow transgender women to play under specific conditions. In doing so, she also outed one of her teammates as a transgender woman.

In Thursday’s match, that player spiked a ball into a San Diego State player and momentarily knocked her down. The Aztec player immediately got up and continued to play. After the point was decided, she was seen smiling and continued playing the match, which SDSU won in straight sets.

However, in his telling of the incident during Wednesday’s town hall on Fox News Channel’s “The Faulkner Focus,” Trump painted a darker picture.

“I saw the slam, it was a slam. I never saw a ball hit so hard, hit the girl in the head,” Trump said. “But other people, even in volleyball, they’ve been permanently, I mean, they’ve been really hurt badly. Women playing men. But you don’t have to do the volleyball. We stop it. We stop it. We absolutely stop it. You can’t have it.”

“You just ban it. The president bans it. You just don’t let it happen,” Trump added without explaining how the president could unilaterally make such a thing happen.

The version of events presented by Trump was disputed on Wednesday by San Diego State officials.

“This did not happen,” SDSU director of athletic communications Jamie McConeghy said in a statement. “The ball hit her in the shoulder. She was uninjured and did not miss a play,” adding that the university “called for multiple corrections from media outlets.”

Per the San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose State has no record of any players being significantly injured in a volleyball match over the last few seasons.

“At San Jose State, we condemn any targeted campaign against any of our students, and we will continue to live the values outlined in the California State University Non-Discrimination Policy,” the school said in a statement Wednesday. “Our athletes all comply with NCAA and Mountain West Conference policies and they are eligible to play under the rules of those organizations.”

Slusser argued in her Sept. 23 court filings that she was concerned her teammate could injure an opponent and that the player’s spikes traveled as fast as 80 mph. Per Olympics.com, the average women’s volleyball spike travels 44 mph and the record is 70 mph.

Southern Utah, Boise State, Wyoming, and Utah State have forfeited matches against San Jose State this season in protest of the NCAA rule and the possibility of playing against a transgender female athlete.

“We abhor that our students would be used for political purposes and we are concerned about the implications of doing so,” San Jose State said in its statement. “We will continue to take measures to ensure the safety of our students while they pursue their earned opportunities to compete, and we remain committed to fostering an inclusive and caring environment for our student-athletes.”

Trump and other Republican candidates have ramped up rhetoric against transgender athletes and transgender people in general in recent weeks. During an appearance on Barstool Sports’ Bussin’ With The Boys, the former president reiterated false claims about Olympic gold medal winner Imane Khelif, a biological woman. He has also claimed that his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, wants to provide “transgender operations” to “illegal aliens.”

[Marisa Ingemi/SF Chronicle, Image: Sarah McGrew]

About Sean Keeley

Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Editorial Strategy Director for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.