Volleyball Players Refused To Play Against A Transgender

Contrary to what their school administration's announcement, the Nevada women's volleyball team members unanimously decided to forfeit a match on 26 October against San Jose State and transgender player Blaire Fleming.

The report posted by OutKick also revealed that the school did not consult any of their players before making an earlier statement that they intend to proceed with a scheduled match against San Jose State.

"The University of Nevada volleyball team remains focused on its upcoming matches with UNLV and San Diego State and intends to play its remaining Mountain West schedule, including the match with San José State University on October 26," the school statement read.

"The University will continue to abide by the NCAA, Mountain West Conference and USA Volleyball rules and regulations as well as the laws and Constitution of the State of Nevada."

After the statement release, University of Nevada outside hitter Sia Liilii and her team held a series of team meetings to allow players to voice their opinions and to decide on a plan of action.

"The vast majority of our team decided this is something we wanted to take a stand on," Liilii said. "We didn’t want to play against a male player.

"In all of our team meetings it just kept coming back to the fact that men do not belong in women’s sports. If you’re born a biological male, you don’t belong in women’s sports. It’s not even about this individual athlete. It’s about fair competition and safety for everyone."

Last 13 October, the volleyball players informed their university leaders that they intended to forfeit the upcoming match against San Jose State. The next morning, the players released a statement announcing their plans to forfeit and Liilii spoke with Outkick to further explain the decision.

"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 said.

Nevada is the fifth school to cancel a match this season against San Jose State and the fourth Mountain West team to forfeit rather than face transgender opponent Fleming.

Within hours, the University of Nevada responded by doubling down on its previous stance. The players’ decision to forfeit, according to a university statement, was "made independently" and "does not represent the position of the University."

Citing state law prohibiting discrimination, the university reiterated its intent to move forward with the San Jose State match as scheduled but said it would not punish players who choose not to participate.