The College Fix

Batie-Smoose believes she was ‘targeted’ due to her complaint about a male player on the women’s volleyball team

A former San Jose State University volleyball coach reported finding a bullet hole in her home Monday, an incident she believes was a retaliation for her opposition to male players in women’s sports.

The Scotts Valley Police Department said the home of Melissa Batie-Smoose (pictured) was vandalized with a pellet gun, and they are investigating, Fox News reports.

Batie-Smoose was home when the shot was fired, but no one was harmed, according to the report.

The former assistant women’s volleyball coach said she thinks her stance on women’s sports made her a target.

“It can’t be a coincidence,” she told Fox News. “I have never had this happen and in our neighborhood I talked to neighbors that have lived there over 10 years and not even a robber in the area, let alone someone shooting at someone in their house.”

In the fall, Batie-Smoose filed a discrimination complaint against the university regarding its decision to allow male player Blaire Fleming, who identifies as female, to compete on the women’s team, The College Fix reported.

The university suspended her shortly afterward, and later did not renew her contract.

Along with Batie-Smoose, several members of the team also voiced concerns about Fleming, and several opposing teams forfeited rather than compete against a male player.

Currently, the former coach and several female players are parties in litigation challenging universities and athletics conferences that allowed male players to compete in women’s competitions. Fox News reports more:

Batie Smoose said the [shooting] incident occurred when she was in a virtual meeting with members of the Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS).

She was speaking with Mountain West Conference volleyball players involved in the lawsuit and the lead attorney Bill Bock. As they were discussing the legal battle and the NCAA’s new policy regarding gender eligibility, Batie-Smoose heard glass break in the background.

“I hear this big sound and it sounds like breaking glass and at first I was just like ‘what just happened? Where did that sound come from?’ And then, once it registered, I look over to the window and I see the bullet hole.”

Batie-Smoose said she crawled on the floor behind her couch and called her husband, telling him to call the police. The pellet was shot at the window facing her backyard.

She also told Fox News the police department’s decision to label the incident as mere vandalism is “crazy.”

“So because it might potentially not be a gun that it’s just considered vandalism even though it can harm you?” Batie-Smoose said. “That’s kind of crazy to me. Regardless, if an object at that force comes to your head, you’re going to be harmed. It’s crazy to me.”

The university also released a statement regarding the incident.

“We are troubled to hear of this unsettling incident and we hope that police are able to identify the perpetrators. Our thoughts are with the Batie-Smoose family,” San Jose State told Fox News.

The issue of athletics and transgender individuals received heightened attention last week when President Donald Trump signed an executive order to prohibit male athletes who identify as female from competing in women’s sports, The Fix reported.

MORE: Boise State women’s volleyball forfeits to San Jose State and its male athlete

IMAGE: Melissa Batie-Smoose/Fox News, San Jose State University

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