The Patriot High School varsity girls volleyball team has chosen to forfeit its River Valley League match against Jurupa Valley originally scheduled to be played Friday, Sept. 26.
News of the forfeit was confirmed Tuesday morning by Jurupa Unified School District spokesperson Jacquie Paul.
Jurupa Valley and Patriot are both part of the Jurupa Unified School District.
Patriot becomes the eighth volleyball team to forfeit a match to the Jaguars this season but is the first to forfeit a league match. Jurupa Valley played and won its first two league matches against Rubidoux and La Sierra last week.
The schools themselves have not provided an official reason for forfeiting matches, but it is widely believe the decisions were made 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 is scheduled to play a league match at Ramona on Wednesday, Sept. 24. A text message was sent to Ramona athletic director John Tibbels on Tuesday morning regarding the status of Wednesday’s match, but no reply has been received.
