University of Nevada, Reno women’s volleyball press conference after losing match to San Jose State

Players at the University of Nevada, Reno Women’s Volleyball team held a press conference Saturday to address their school’s reluctance to forfeit a game against a team with a transgender player.

In addition to former NCAA swimmer and OutKick contributor Riley Gaines, several players spoke about the situation on the day they were scheduled to face San Jose State.

The program has been officially announced it would forfeit the game on Friday because they didn’t have enough players, but the players had told their athletic department weeks earlier that they didn’t want to play San Jose State.

Wolf Pack team captain Sia Liilii broke down in tears from the moment she took the stage as she talked about her experience telling school officials she didn’t want to compete against a transgender player.

“When the news broke, I was stunned, as were many of my teammates. This is not what we signed up for,” said an emotional Liilii.

Liilii referenced a statement released by the university on Oct. 13 in which he assured that the program plans to face San Jose State despite players voting to forfeit.

“Our university had made a decision for us. They issued a statement on our behalf saying we were going to play. We were not consulted, we were not given a voice and we did not agree with it,” Liilii said. “It hurt to know that our university was putting us in a position that could potentially hurt us. My teammates and I were very emotional, and I’m not sure. I can’t put into words what it feels like to face something like this and know that we are all on our own.”

Nevada previously provided a statement to Fox News Digital confirming that the players had requested to forfeit the match but did not have the authority to do so themselves.

“A majority of the Wolf Pack women’s volleyball team released a statement to the university informing them that the team had decided to forfeit its scheduled match with San José State University. While players do not have the right to forfeit the game, this decision is one that only the university and our athletics department can officially make,” the statement said.

The university added that each player could sit out the match without consequences.

Liilii said Saturday when her teammates approached school officials to express their opinions desire to forfeit the match, they were lectured about ‘not understanding the science’ and asked to reconsider their position.

“We felt unsafe and fired,” Liilii said, sobbing. “We met with our school officials to give them our team’s new statement, but they didn’t even want to hear it. We were told that we were not educated enough and that we did not understand the science. We were told to reconsider our position.”

In addition to her university, Liilii also called out the Mountain West Conference and the NCAA, saying the institutions are “failing us.”

Nevada sophomore Masyn Navarro claimed her teammates were told to “keep quiet” about the controversy during the press conference.

“It shouldn’t be so difficult to stand up for women. However, we will now take this opportunity to stand up as a team as some of us have been told to remain quiet,” Navarro said.

Nevada freshman Kinsley Singleton said her teammates had several encounters in recent weeks and shared their fears about possible injuries if they had to play against a transgender opponent.

The program previously said it could not forfeit the game because it would be a violation of state law. Article I, Section 24 of the Nevada Constitution provides that “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by this State or any of its political subdivisions on account of race, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or expression, age, disability, ancestry or national origin.”

However, that constitution was revised in 2022 when Nevada voted to pass the Equal Rights Amendment, which added gender identity to the list of protections.

Nevada state Sen. Pat Spearman, a North Las Vegas Democrat who co-sponsored the bill to get it on the ballot, said the law has helped transgender people maintain their identities.

“As a state university, a forfeiture for reasons related to gender identity or expression could itself constitute discrimination and violate the Nevada Constitution,” the university statement said.

However, after the controversy gained national attention and it was announced that the competition had been moved from Nevada to California’s Bay Area, the program eventually announced an official forfeit when it became clear that there would not be enough players to compete.

Nevada is the fifth team to forfeit a game against San Jose State, joining Southern Utah, Boise State, Wyoming and Utah State.

The cancellations come as a San Jose State player is involved in a lawsuit against the NCAA for being forced to compete with a transgender teammate who is still on the team.

San Jose State player Brooke Slusser joined a lawsuit led by Gaines against the NCAA over its gender identity policy.

Slusser joined the lawsuit because she claims she was forced to share a court, a locker room and even a room with teammate Blaire Fleming during late-night outings without ever being told that Fleming was a biological male.

San Jose State responded to the forfeit in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“Our athletes all comply with NCAA and Mountain West Conference policies and are eligible to play under the rules of those organizations. We will continue to take steps to prioritize the health and safety of our students as they pursue their earned opportunities to compete,” the statement said.

Nevada players, including Liilii and Sierra Bernard, wrote an op-ed for Fox News Digital Friday praising former President Trump for his position advocating a ban on transgender athletes in women’s sports.

“President Trump has our backs, and this election is more important than politics but about leaders who stand with women on and off the field and defend our right to compete safely and fairly,” the players wrote. “As proud female athletes, we will continue to fight for fairness on the field and in women’s sports. But it should not be a battle we have to fight alone.”