Aquinas, Yucaipa and San Dimas joined the list of schools who have forfeited varsity girls volleyball matches to Jurupa Valley this season.
The three forfeits came this past weekend during the Freeway Games tournament hosted by Santiago and Roosevelt high schools.
Jurupa Valley did play two matches during the tournament. Santa Monica and El Dorado did not forfeit matches, and both teams swept the Jaguars.
The forfeit total now stands at eight. Riverside Poly, Rim of the World, Orange Vista and Miller all forfeited nonleague matches earlier this season.
However, it is widely believed the decision to forfeit matches is because Jurupa Valley’s girls volleyball roster includes transgender athlete AB Hernandez.
Hernandez is a senior who has competed on Jurupa Valley’s girls varsity volleyball and track and field teams since the 2022-2023 school year. California state law has allowed athletes to compete in the gender in which they identify since 2014.
Jurupa Valley opens River Valley League play this week with matches at Rubidoux (Wednesday) and La Sierra (Friday). Jurupa Unified School District spokesperson Jacquie Paul wrote in an email that those two matches are still scheduled to be played as of Monday afternoon.
It is risky for a team to forfeit a league match because the final standings determine which teams qualify for the CIF Southern Section playoffs.
There is a rumor circulating that any team that has forfeited a match to Jurupa Valley during the regular season would be required to forfeit in the playoffs should it get matched up with Jurupa Valley. CIF Southern Section assistant commissioner and spokesperson Thom Simmons said that is false.
“No such bylaws exist,” Simmons wrote in an email last week.
