The University of Nevada, Reno plans to host a match against the San Jose State Spartans women’s volleyball team next week, but it’s unclear if any Nevada athletes will show up.
The Wolf Pack players informed the university that they plan to forfeit the Oct. 26 game against San Jose State University over the participation of its male-to-female transgender player, even though the school itself has refused to cancel the match.
Four other collegiate teams have previously forfeited or nixed their games against San Jose State, although none specifically mentioned the transgender issue.
The Nevada women went there.
“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 members said in a separate statement Monday to 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 players said.
The university responded by confirming that the match would go forward as scheduled even though most of the players plan to forfeit, though the school added that no student will be subject to team disciplinary action for refusing to play.
“The players’ decision and statement were made independently, and without consultation with the University or the athletic department. The players’ decision also does not represent the position of the University,” the university said in a Monday statement to The Washington Times.
The university cited its obligations under the state constitution and state law, saying that they “strictly protect equality of rights under the law” based on factors including gender identity.
“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,” said the UNR statement.
The UNR athletic department previously had said in an Oct. 3 statement, after the boycotts from other schools had begun, that the match against San Jose State would go forward as scheduled.
But Sia Liilii, a Nevada senior, said the decision was made “without consulting our team at all.”
“We were pretty upset that we were not made aware that a statement was going to come out,” she told OutKick. “We were actually in Las Vegas preparing for our match against UNLV, our in-state rival. It was a really frustrating time, especially because we were about to go and play a big game.”
Ms. Liilii said the team voted not to play the match and “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.”
San Jose State spokesperson Michelle Smith MacDonald previously called the forfeits “disappointing.”
“It is disappointing that our SJSU student athletes, who are in full compliance with NCAA and Mountain West rules and regulations, are being denied opportunities to compete,” she said in an Oct. 4 statement. “We are committed to supporting our student-athletes through these challenges and in their ability to compete in an inclusive, fair, safe and respectful environment.”
BREAKING: @OutKick has exclusively learned that University of Nevada volleyball players were upset when the school committed them to facing SJSU and transgender player Blaire Fleming without consulting the team.
— Dan Zaksheske (@RealDanZak) October 14, 2024
Players voted and they will forfeit the scheduled match on Oct 26. pic.twitter.com/88zACAfXST
The forfeits have intensified pressure on the NCAA to bar biological males from women’s athletics, as has the decision by San Jose co-captain Brooke Slusser to join a federal lawsuit challenging the NCAA transgender policy.
Ms. Slusser said the university held a meeting urging players not to speak to media outlets after the story broke earlier this year about redshirt senior Blaire Fleming’s transgender identity.
“It was quite literally just a media meeting talking about, ‘Don’t make comments if media people come up to you, it’s not your story to tell,’ and that was really it,” Ms. Slusser told “OutKick the Morning” host Charly Arnolt.
“It wasn’t, ’how do we feel about this?’ ’Are we OK?’ It was how to handle the media and not make it look like there’s a problem.”
She said there was “the feeling of just sweeping it under the rug,” although San Jose State did offer counseling to the players.
“The only thing that’s ever really said is, ‘Well, how can we help you be more comfortable? Oh, we have this therapist you can talk to about this if you have an issue,’” Ms. Slusser said.
She added that “they know the only answer is to just get rid of Blaire and everything would be fine. But any time anyone says that, they’re like, that’s not happening.”
San Jose State has a 4-3 record in the Mountain West Conference and is 9-3 overall. Three of its four conference wins, and one of its five outside the conference, have been forfeits.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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