The captain of the University of Nevada‘s women’s volleyball team spoke out against her school, alleging that it ‘dismissed’ the fears players had about competing with a transgender opponent.
Sia Liilii, the Wolf Pack team’s senior captain, claims she and her fellow athletes had given university officials weeks-long notice of their decision to forfeit a match against San Jose State, whose roster features Blaire Fleming – a transgender athlete.
But instead, it was only a day out that the program announced it would be forfeiting the match, citing they didn’t have enough players.
Now the tearful captain has slammed the university for ignoring the team’s concerns over sharing the court with a transgender athlete and not taking their issues seriously.
Sia Liilii, the senior captain of the ‘Wolf Pack,’ led a press conference on Saturday, during which she and her teammates addressed the University of Nevada’s decision to forfeit a match against San Jose State
‘We felt unsafe and dismissed,’ Liilii said during a press conference Saturday, also attended by Riley Gaines.
‘We met with our school officials to give them our team’s new statement, but they wouldn’t even hear it.
‘We were told that we weren’t educated enough and that we didn’t understand the science. We were told to reconsider our position.’
Liilii said she was shocked when the university initially decided to move ahead with the scheduled match against San Jose State, despite the team’s impassioned protestations.
‘When the news broke, I was stunned, as many of my teammates were. This is not what we signed up for.’
San Jose State’s roster features transgender athlete Blaire Fleming
At a press conference, the tearful captain slammed the university for ignoring the team’s concerns over sharing the court with a transgender athlete
The saga came to a head on October 13, when the university released a public statement that reaffirmed the program’s determination to compete against San Jose State.
Players on the team had previously voted to forfeit the match. According to freshman Kinsley Singleton, she and her teammates had even met privately to discuss their fears about injuries that might be sustained from playing against a transgender opponent.
The school’s announcement felt like an act of betrayal to the young women.
‘Our university had made a decision for us,’ Liilii explained. ‘They released 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.’
Liilii said that she was ‘hurt’ knowing that the school was willing to put them in a ‘position that could potentially hurt us.
‘My teammates and I were very emotional, and I’m not sure, I cannot put into words how it feels to face something like this and knowing that we are all on our own.’
Liilii from the University of Nevada’s women’s volleyball team spoke out against school officials who she says failed to take the team’s concerns seriously
Players on the team had previously voted to forfeit the match
Liilii spoke out against her school at a press conference on Saturday
The volleyball star then launched a broader attack aimed at the Mountain West Conference and the NCAA, lamenting that the institutions were ‘failing’ them.
Later on, sophomore Masyn Navarro took the stage and claimed that she and her teammates had been urged to ‘stay quiet’ about the incident.
‘It should not be this 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 stay quiet,’ Navarro said.
The school previously defended its actions and choices.
In a statement to Fox News, a representative for the school acknowledged that ‘a majority of the Wolf Pack women’s volleyball team’ had decided to forfeit the match.
However, they said that the ability to make such a decision was the prerogative of ‘the university and our department of athletics.’
The school also noted that players were free to sit out the match without suffering any consequences.
They defended their decision not to forfeit by pointing out that to do so would potentially be against the law.
‘As a state university, a forfeiture for reasons involving gender identity or expression could constitute per se discrimination and violate the Nevada Constitution.’
Nevertheless, Nevada was forced to forfeit on Friday, when it became clear that they would not have enough players to compete in the match.
Fleming, who plays as an outside and right-side hitter, has enjoyed two seasons with San Jose State after previously playing at Coastal Carolina
Fleming, who stands 6-foot-1, currently ranks fourth in the Mountain West in kills and overall points
This was the fifth time that a scheduled opponent of San Jose State has refused to suit up against them this season, as Boise State, Wyoming and Utah State and Southern Utah University have all made the same decision.
More than a dozen female athletes, including one of Fleming’s teammates, are accusing the NCAA of knowingly violating a law that prohibits sex-based discrimination by allowing a transgender player to compete in women’s sports.
Fleming, who plays as an outside and right-side hitter, has enjoyed two seasons with San Jose State after previously playing at Coastal Carolina.
The player, who stands 6-foot-1, currently ranks fourth in the Mountain West in kills and overall points.
