Individual players with the University of Nevada’s women’s volleyball team will be allowed to opt out of their upcoming match against the San Jose State University women’s volleyball team.
Nevada’s team had initially voted to forfeit the October 26 match due to San Jose State University allegedly having a transgender woman, making Nevada’s university the fifth recent one to forfeit. However, the University of Nevada, citing the Nevada Constitution and state laws, said it will have its team compete as originally agreed.
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Anti-trans state politicians and an impending lawsuit also pressured the team to pull out.
In a statement explaining its decision, the University of Nevada wrote that a majority of the women’s volleyball team voted on October 13 to forfeit the match.
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“The players’ decision and statement were made independently, and without consultation with the University or the athletic department,” the statement said, adding that the players’ decision didn’t represent the position of the university.
“The University and its athletic programs are governed by the Nevada Constitution and Nevada law, which strictly protect equality of rights under the law, and that equality of rights shall not be denied or abridged by this state or any of its subdivisions on account of race, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, ancestry or national origin,” the statement continued. “The University is also governed by federal law as well as the rules and regulations of the NCAA and the Mountain West Conference, which include providing competition in an inclusive and supportive environment.”
“The University intends to move forward with the match as scheduled, and the players may choose not to participate in the match on the day of the contest,” the statement concluded. “No players will be subject to any team disciplinary action for their decision not to participate in the match.”
This statement comes after the University of Nevada women’s volleyball team sent a statement to Outkick, a sports and political commentary website owned by Fox Corporation, stating their rationale for not competing against San Jose State University.
“We, the University of Nevada Reno women’s volleyball team, forfeit against San Jose State University and stand united in solidarity with the volleyball teams of Southern Utah University, Boise State University, the University of Wyoming and Utah State University,” the team told OutKick. “We demand that our right to safety and fair competition on the court be upheld. We refuse to participate in any match that advances injustice against female athletes.”
“The school released that statement without consulting our team at all,” Senior Sia Liilii of Nevada’s team told OutKick. “We were pretty upset that we were not made aware that a statement was going to come out. We were actually in Las Vegas preparing for our match against [University of Nevada, Las Vegas], our in-state rival. It was a really frustrating time, especially because we were about to go and play a big game.”
“We decided that we’re going to stand in solidarity with other teams that have already forfeited and that we wouldn’t participate in a game that advances sex-based discrimination or injustice against female athletes,” Liilii added.
Schools that chose to forfeit against San Jose State for allegedly having a trans female player include Southern Utah University, Boise State University, Utah State University, and Wyoming University.
The player in question has been playing for three seasons now without issues of her participation. She has been compliant with NCAA requirements for testosterone levels throughout this entire period, and has never violated the requirements. There is no evidence of discrimination against cisgender female athletes due to her participation.
Todd Kress, coach of the San Jose State University team, said that his team has dealt with hate mail as a result of the publicity over the teammate.
“Some of it, to be honest, is disgusting,” Kress said. “I’m more worried about our student-athletes and what they receive and how that’s impacting their mental health,” Kress told local media.
“Concentrating on what we can do on the court has, quite frankly, been very tough lately,” Kress said. “There have been outside forces who have sought to divide our team, our university, our conference and our sport. I know it’s been weighing on the players in our locker room who have put in years of hard work. We have an incredible group of young women who are trying to put the controversy aside. I just have faith that we’ll eventually be able to put the outside noise aside and be able to play for each other and find love for one another again.”
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