Rumours that one of Brooke Slusser’s volleyball teammates was transgender first came to her in whispers. The 21-year-old had transferred to San Jose State on a volleyball scholarship and three months in she started to notice some of her teammates discussing the subject in hushed tones.

Brooke Slusser, a co-captain of the San Jose State University women’s volleyball team who was among a group that filed a lawsuit to bar a transgender woman from continuing to play on the team, sits on a bench in San Jose, Calif., on Nov. 18. (AMY OSBORNE/New York Times)

The San Jose State University Spartans women’s volleyball team, which is at the center of a national debate over the inclusion of transgender women in women’s sports, advanced to its conference championship on Saturday without having played a single game in the tournament.

The Spartans’ path to the Mountain West Conference championship raises complex questions about fairness, inclusion, and the future of women’s sports.