The location of a women’s volleyball match between Nevada and San Jose State on Saturday has been moved from Reno, Nevada, to San Jose.

The schools announced the decision Tuesday in a joint statement, with the Mountain West Conference approving the decision.

In the statement, the schools said, “the decision to move the location of the match has been made in the best interest of both programs and the well-being of the student-athletes, coaches, athletic staff and spectators.”

Before the venue change, a group of Nevada players recently issued a statement saying they will not take the floor for what was to be their home game against the Spartans. The players cited their “right to safety and fair competition.” The school, though, reaffirmed at the time the match was still planned and that state law bars forfeiture “for reasons related to gender identity or expression.”

There’s still the possibility the match ends as a forfeit should the Wolf Pack elect not to play. Nevada plays at Fresno State on Thursday.

San Jose State has already seen four teams cancel games this season — Southern Utah, Boise State, Wyoming and Utah State. None of the schools explicitly have said why it was forfeiting. All those schools, except Southern Utah, are in the Mountain West.

Political figures from Wyoming, Idaho and Utah have weighed in and suggested the cancellations centered around protecting women’s sports.

Mountain West commissioner Gloria Nevarez said last week she was heartbroken over what has transpired this season surrounding the Spartans and their opponents.

Baseball

Rays’ 2025 home tbd >> Major League Baseball hopes to find the Tampa Bay Rays a temporary home near their fanbase at least for the start of the 2025 season if the damage to Tropicana Field from Hurricane Milton cannot be repaired in time.

The translucent fiberglass dome at the ballpark in St. Petersburg was shredded by Milton’s winds, leaving its immediate future in doubt. A number of spring training sites around the Tampa Bay area have been suggested as temporary homes, and MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said the league wants a location in the region if possible.

The Rays have played at Tropicana Field since their inaugural 1998 season, although the building was constructed in 1990. The hurricane damage comes a few months after the city of St. Petersburg and Pinellas County approved a new $1.3 billion ballpark in an adjacent location that would open in the 2028 season, part of a much larger downtown revitalization project.

Playing there without a roof is one idea, but the Trop doesn’t have the drainage systems necessary in such a rain-prone location.

So, where would the Rays go if the Trop isn’t ready on opening day of 2025?

Suggestions have included local-area spring training sites used by the Phillies, Blue Jays, Yankees, Pirates and Tigers. A bit further away is the Rays’ own spring training complex in Port Charlotte, about 85 miles south of St. Petersburg. Another option may be the ballpark at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports complex near Orlando.

There has also been talk of the Rays sharing the Miami Marlins’ stadium, but that would be a major scheduling challenge and about a four-hour drive from St. Petersburg. A previous proposal to have the Rays play some home games in Montreal resurfaced, but the stadium there is undergoing renovation and would not be ready for next season.

The Rays’ opening “home” game against the Colorado Rockies is scheduled for March 27, 2025, and Manfred said MLB, the team and other entities will come up with a solution.

“The one thing I can tell you for sure, they’re playing next year. We’re going to find them someplace to do it,” Manfred said on the podcast.

Women’s basketball

Sophomores Center stage among preseason all-AMERICANS >> USC star JuJu Watkins and UConn’s Paige Bueckers headline The Associated Press preseason All-America women’s college basketball team that includes three sophomores in a clear sign of the young talent in a sport coming off a record year of fan interest.

Watkins and Bueckers were unanimous choices by the 30-member national media panel that selects the AP Top 25 each week. It’s the third appearance on the team for Bueckers, who also was a preseason choice in her sophomore season and last year.

The duo was joined by Hannah Hidalgo of Notre Dame, Madison Booker of Texas and Kiki Iriafen of USC. Watkins, Hidalgo and Booker are all second-year players.

“It’s unbelievable. Those players excelled as freshmen and their teams won. They did it in multiple ways,” USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. “It’s really exciting for the game and the future of it.”

Gottlieb’s stars, Watkins and Iriafen, are the first pair of teammates selected to the All-America team since 2017-18, when UConn had three of the five players chosen. Iriafen entered the transfer portal soon after Stanford Hall of Fame coach Tara VanDerveer announced her retirement in April.

“Kiki came because she wanted to play with JuJu, who recruited her because she wanted to play with Kiki,” Gottlieb said. “It’s exciting to see their personalities mesh.”

Watkins and her fellow sophomores were part of the ratings and attendance boom last season for women’s college basketball that was led by Iowa’s Caitlin Clark and LSU’s Angel Reese. NCAA Tournament attendance was the highest it’s ever been and the championship game that featured Clark and Iowa against undefeated South Carolina had a record TV audience of 18.7 million, the highest for a basketball broadcast of any kind in five years.

Golf

Pushback against transgender contender >> Transgender golfer Hailey Davidson began the second stage of LPGA qualifying with a 78 as reports surfaced of 275 female players signing a letter asking top golf organizations to repeal policies that allow biological males to compete against women.

Outkick said the Independent Women’s Forum shared the letter sent Aug. 19 to the LPGA, the U.S. Golf Association and the International Golf Federation. The letter was sent three days before the pre-qualifying stage of Q-school.

Davidson, who narrowly missed out on a playoff during U.S. Women’s Open qualifying this year, tied for 42nd in LPGA pre-qualify to advance to the next stage.

The LPGA currently allows players who have undergone gender reassignment after puberty and meet hormone therapy requirements.