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A girls’ high school volleyball team in California is facing additional forfeits over its transgender player.

Jurupa Valley High School’s girls’ volleyball team had two more games scratched from its schedule this week after opposing teams chose to forfeit, adding to a highly-charged situation that first began in early August.

Maribel Munoz, the mother of a Jurupa Valley High School volleyball player, confirmed the forfeits to Fox News Digital on Tuesday. She said Coach Liana Manu told parents the two games would be canceled.

The forfeited games, which were reported by other local media, included matchups against Rim of the World High School on Aug. 25 and Orange Vista High School on Aug. 29.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, the Jurupa Valley Unified School District (JUSD) said the latest forfeits were not its decision. “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 said.

District officials added, “It’s important to know that JUSD is required by California law to protect all students from discrimination based on gender identity. Under Education Code 221.5 (f), schools must allow students to participate on athletic teams consistent with their gender identity. This guidance is supported by 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 district’s statement continued, saying the school was working to schedule new games so that the players don’t miss the chance to compete.

The latest forfeits came after a team from Riverside Poly High School scratched a game that had been set for Aug. 15. A parent of a player on the Poly team and a local school board member confirmed to Fox News Digital that their decision not to play was because of the participation of Jurupa Valley’s transgender player, senior AB Hernandez.

Hernandez’s mother, Nereyda Hernandez, sent a statement to Fox News Digital as the controversy continued to mount. “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,” she said.

She also tried to put the backlash in perspective, describing her daughter as “petite” and saying that what sets her apart is not her size or strength. “It’s skill and her competitive nature, because she just loves to play the game,” Nereyda Hernandez said. “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. Not even her teammates or her coach have ever said a word to her about this, so she has no idea.”

The senior athlete has been in the national spotlight before. Hernandez competed in track and field in the spring, winning two California state titles in the long jump and triple jump. In addition to several female athletes and their families protesting the victories by wearing “Save Girls’ Sports” shirts, former President Donald Trump also got involved, posting a message on Truth Social ahead of the state finals in May that called for California to not allow a trans girl to compete. (He did not mention Hernandez by name.)

The U.S. Department of Justice sued the California Department of Education and the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) in July over policies that allow transgender athletes to compete on girls’ sports teams, despite Trump signing an executive order in February that called for such participation to be banned.

The California volleyball season for Hernandez is her last, but the summer leading up to the season, and the start of it, have been anything but typical. Rather than talk about the competition, she is becoming part of a broader national conversation around transgender students and sports.

Munoz, another Jurupa Valley parent whose daughter has played with Hernandez for three years, said her emotions about the situation run high. “It makes me feel sad, it makes me feel angry, frustrated, just so many emotions,” she said.

One of the latest venues for tensions over the situation is at local school board meetings. On Monday, at a Riverside Unified School District meeting, parents on either side of the issue were given the chance to speak. Some said they supported the Riverside Poly athletes for making the decision not to play, while others were in defense of transgender students’ rights to compete.

At that meeting, Nereyda Hernandez also addressed the Riverside board member, Amanda Vickers, who previously spoke to Fox News Digital about the decision not to play Jurupa Valley. “You actually entertained and welcomed harassment to my child,” she said. “You are a board member. You have an oath to protect, to support all children, not just the ones that fit your ideas, your beliefs.”