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A California girls’ high school volleyball team has had two more games forfeited against it after teams from other schools decided to forfeit, adding to a roiling controversy over a transgender player on the team.

Maribel Munoz, the mother of a Jurupa Valley High School girls’ volleyball player, confirmed the news to Fox News Digital after the team’s coach, Liana Manu, informed parents that two matches had been scratched. According to Munoz, one match had been with Rim of the World High School, scheduled for August 25, and another with Orange Vista High School, set for August 29.

The Jurupa Valley Unified School District (JUSD), in a statement, also addressed the recent forfeits. “We understand and acknowledge the disappointment of our Jurupa Valley High School athletes who are ready and prepared to play,” the district said, but it also emphasized that the forfeits were not being called by the district itself. “Decisions to cancel matches were made by teams in other districts,” the statement continued.

It added, “As has always been the case, the JUSD does not tolerate discrimination of any kind and follows California law, which protects all students from discrimination based on gender identity.”

Pointing to California Education Code 221.5 (f), it further stated, “Specifically, this law requires that a school allow a student to participate on an athletic team that is consistent with his or her gender identity. This requirement has been made very clear by both the California Attorney General Rob Bonta and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond.”

“We are proud of our JVHS Jaguars and their willingness to play any team and represent their school and our district with pride,” the statement concluded, with the district adding that it was seeking to reschedule matches so that the team would not lose games.

The forfeits add to growing frustration over a decision by Riverside Poly High School not to play a match on August 15. Fox News Digital previously spoke to parents of players and a Riverside Unified school board member about the decision to forfeit, who confirmed it was due to the team’s transgender player, senior AB Hernandez.

In a statement to the media, Hernandez’s mother, Nereyda Hernandez, addressed the controversy. “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 said.

She said that her daughter, Hernandez, is petite in stature, “smaller and weaker than most of the girls she will be playing against,” but that is not the reason her daughter can compete with the team. “AB is different because she is an amazing player,” she added. “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.”

Hernandez said her daughter had been “heartbroken” to learn about the forfeits but had not realized that they were related to her.

It is not the first time Hernandez has been in the national spotlight. Hernandez, who recently finished competing in track and field in the spring season, won two California state titles in the long jump and triple jump events, sparking protests from female athletes and family members who showed up at events with shirts reading “Save Girls’ Sports.” They had been joined by former President Donald Trump, who posted a message on Truth Social before the state finals, calling on California not to let a transgender girl compete, though he did not mention Hernandez by name.

The Justice Department last month filed a lawsuit against the California Department of Education and the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) over the state’s policy of allowing transgender athletes to compete on girls’ teams. This came despite Trump in February signing an executive order banning transgender participation.

Hernandez is in her final season of high school volleyball, but instead of preparing to play matches, the controversy and forfeits have been dominating her time. Hernandez and her team are now bracing for the possibility of more forfeits.

Maribel Munoz, the Jurupa Valley mother whose daughter has played on the team for three years with Hernandez, has spoken out to the media about being frustrated at how the season is playing out. “It makes me feel sad, it makes me feel angry, frustrated, just so many emotions,” Munoz told the Los Angeles Times.

The dispute has even entered school board meetings. At a Riverside Unified School District meeting, parents of players and a school board member showed up to the public session, with some coming in support of the Riverside Poly players for forfeiting and others speaking in defense of transgender students.