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A California girls’ high school volleyball team was handed two additional forfeits by opposing schools, as the controversy surrounding a transgender player on the roster continues to boil over.

Maribel Munoz, a mother of one of the players on Jurupa Valley High School’s girls’ volleyball team, confirmed the forfeits to Fox News Digital after coach Liana Manu sent out an email to parents about the changes. Games set for Rim of the World High School on August 25 and Orange Vista High School on August 29 were the ones scratched.

In a statement, Jurupa Valley Unified School District (JUSD) said the choice to forfeit was not its own.

“We understand and acknowledge the disappointment of our Jurupa Valley High School athletes who are ready and prepared to play. Decisions to cancel matches were made by teams in other districts,” the statement read.

District officials also made clear that state law requires schools not to discriminate against a student based on gender identity. The guidance, officials said, is consistent with the position of California Attorney General Rob Bonta and the State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond.

Education Code 221.5 (f) specifically notes “No student shall be prohibited from participating in any athletic team based on the student’s gender identity,” according to the JUSD statement.

“We are proud of our JVHS Jaguars and their willingness to play any team and represent their school and our district with pride,” the district added. Efforts are being made to secure new matchups, officials noted, so the athletes “don’t have to suffer by missing games.”

The two forfeits were just the latest in a string of games that the team was originally expected to play but has since been canceled or withdrawn from.

Most recently, the volleyball team was supposed to play Riverside Poly High School on August 15, but Riverside Poly made the decision to forfeit the game as well. Fox News Digital has confirmed with parents of the girls on the Riverside Poly team, as well as a Riverside Unified School District board member, that the decision was specifically related to the presence of the school’s transgender player, senior AB Hernandez.

AB Hernandez’s mother, Nereyda Hernandez, had a statement of her own following recent backlash.

“I understand the discomfort some may feel, because I was once there, too. The difference is, I chose to learn, to grow, and to open my heart,” Hernandez wrote in a statement. “I have come to know, embrace, and love my beautiful daughter.”

She noted that her daughter is “petite, like many girls and women,” and said Hernandez stands out not for her physicality or strength, but rather because she is good at the sport. “This is a child, and I can assure you that she sees your daughters as peers, as teammates, as friends, not through a lens of anything inappropriate,” she added. Hernandez noted her daughter was even unaware of the forfeits.

The controversy over Hernandez isn’t new for her family. Hernandez, a senior in high school, was a standout track and field athlete last spring, taking home two state titles for the CIF California State Track and Field Championships in the long jump and triple jump.

Her victories, however, drew protests from female athletes and their parents, who often wore “Save Girls’ Sports” shirts. Former President Donald Trump also waded in on the controversy, posting a message on Truth Social ahead of the California state finals asking that the state not allow a trans athlete to compete. Hernandez was not mentioned by name in his statement.

In July, the U.S. Department of Justice launched a lawsuit against the California Department of Education and the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) over its guidance, which allows for transgender athletes to compete on girls’ teams. This lawsuit came despite Trump signing an executive order in February that would bar such participation.

This summer and fall, the focus should be on playing sports and having a season. For Hernandez, however, her final volleyball season in high school is likely to be defined by forfeits and mounting acrimony from the larger community.

One of those parents is Munoz, whose daughter has played alongside Hernandez for the last three years. In an interview, Munoz called the situation both “sad and angry, and frustrated, just so many emotions.”

Tensions have boiled over into local school board meetings in both the Jurupa Valley Unified School District as well as in Riverside Unified School District.

At one recent Riverside Unified School District meeting, parents of Riverside Poly players had some, like Carrillo, supportive of the girls for refusing to play the game, while others, like Nereyda Hernandez, spoke up in defense of transgender students, like her daughter, to continue to play sports.

During the meeting, Nereyda Hernandez went after one Riverside board member, Amanda Vickers, after Vickers had spoken to Fox News Digital in the past about the forfeit.