EXCLUSIVE: In October, players on the University of Nevada, Reno women’s volleyball team were engaged in a highly publicized dispute with its university and athletics department over whether to play a match against the University of Reno. San Jose State.
San Jose State, at the time, was recruiting a trans athlete.
Nevada players contacted university administrators privately to express their desire to forfeit and join four other programs that refused to play SJSU. But Nevada did not honor that request and instead issued a statement insisting it would play the game. Nevada also insisted its players would be allowed to skip the competition without facing disciplinary action.
The team finally forfeited the day before the match, due to a lack of sufficient players. However, the university said it had discussions with the players about possible “legal issues” that could arise if the game was not played.
“University administrators met with the Nevada volleyball team and discussed scenarios of what could happen if they chose not to play. One of the scenarios discussed revolved around possible legal issues related to violation of the Nevada Constitution,” read a statement provided exclusively to PK Press Club Digital by the University of Nevada, Reno.
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The state constitution was revised in 2022, when Democratic lawmakers voted to pass the Equal Rights Amendment, which added gender identity to its list of diversity classifications protected under state law. the state.
“It was prohibited by University of Nevada laws and regulations to withdraw for reasons related to gender identity or expression. As a state university, confiscation for reasons involving gender identity or expression could itself constitute discrimination and violate the Nevada Constitution,” the Nevada statement said.
Nevada’s statement followed allegations made by Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS) co-founder Marshi Smith.
Smith met and spoke with several players on the Nevada team during their dispute and leads the legal defense group that filed a lawsuit against San Jose State and the Mountain West Conference over its handling of the situation involving the trans athlete.
“At UNR, school administrators warned athletes that they could face legal action if they refused to compete against SJSU’s team, which included a male starter,” Smith told PK Press Club Digital .
The dispute between the players escalated into a national controversy that even attracted mainstream political attention in the weeks leading up to the November election.
Nevada players, including captain Sia Liilii, have repeatedly spoken out publicly against the university for refusing to forfeit. Trump’s presumptive director of national intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard and former Nevada U.S. Senate candidate Sam Brown even visited the team for a photo op and interview.
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The scale of the controversy has only intensified as the October 26 match date approaches. On October 22, Nevada and San Jose State announced that the game would be moved from Nevada’s campus in Reno to San Jose State’s campus in California’s Bay Area, saying the change in venue was ” in the best interest of both programs and the good.” -the being of student-athletes, coaches, sports staff and spectators.”
But then, the day before the game, Nevada announced its team would forfeit, citing not having enough players ready to participate. Nevada had one loss under its belt for the game, then went just 1-7 to finish the season.
Nevada players previously spoke about the pressure they faced from the university to play the game during a press conference at their university. It took place on the originally scheduled match day, October 26.
Liilii broke down in tears the minute she took the podium as she recounted her experience telling school officials she didn’t want to play a transgender player.
“We didn’t feel safe and were sent away,” Liilii said, sobbing. “We met with our school officials to tell them about our team’s new statement, but they didn’t even want to hear it. We were told we weren’t educated enough and didn’t understand the science. We were told to reconsider our position.
Masyn Navarro, a sophomore at Nevada, claimed her teammates were told to “stay quiet” about the controversy during the news conference.
“It shouldn’t be this difficult to stand up for women. However, now we will take this opportunity to stand up as a team, as some of us have been asked to remain silent,” Navarro said.
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Nevada athletic director Stephanie Rempe previously provided a statement to PK Press Club Digital regarding the allegations made during the press conference.
“I didn’t say it, and I don’t know of any member of the athletics administrative team who told members of our women’s volleyball team that they ‘aren’t educated enough,’ that they ‘ didn’t understand the science’, that they should reconsider their position or that they should “stay silent” regarding their participation in a scheduled October 26 game against San Jose State University.
Rempe said she apologized to the players regarding how they were informed that the university planned to continue the game, even after the players voted to forfeit.
“On October 14 and 22, I spoke with the team for less than five minutes each time and these gatherings were operational in nature. In all three meetings, I offered our sincere apologies for not sharing the statement released on October 3 prior to their match against UNLV. As has been stated numerous times, we continue to support the rights of volleyball players who choose or choose not to participate,” Rempe said.
Article I, Section 24 of the Nevada Constitution provides that “equal rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by this state or any political subdivision thereof on account of race, color, creed, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, ancestry or national origin.”
But Liilii is now one of 11 former or current Mountain West volleyball players involved in the lawsuit against San Jose State and Mountain West over its handling of the situation involving the trans athlete.
San Jose State co-captain Brooke Slusser is leading the lawsuit and is engaged in a separate lawsuit against the NCAA, citing her experience having to share a team, room and locker room with the trans athlete while knowledge of the player’s birth sex was actively hidden. her for an entire season through school and conference.
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Other actors listed as plaintiffs are Alyssa Sugai, Elle Patterson, Nicanora Clarke, Kaylie Ray, Macey Boggs, Sierra Grizzle, Jordan Sandy, Katelyn Van Kirk and Kiersten Van Kirk. Former SJSU assistant volleyball coach Melissa Batie-Smoose, who was suspended by San Jose State after filing a Title IX complaint alleging the university gave favorable treatment to the trans player, is also a plaintiff.
Smith told PK Press Club Digital that some athletes expressed fear of retaliation from their schools when deciding whether to seek their help.
“The most common first question we get from NCAA female athletes seeking support is, ‘What can my school or the NCAA do to retaliate against me if I speak out against allowing men in women’s sports?’ They are often terrified of losing their scholarships or being kicked off their team,” Smith told PK Press Club Digital.
“The first assurance we provide is that these athletes have a constitutional right to free speech. They can speak up or down to protest discrimination, Title IX violations, or increased security risks when they compete against a male athlete, without fear of retaliation, regardless of the lies their schools may tell them.
