University of Nevada Reno finally canceled a women’s volleyball match after members refused to play against a team with a trans-identifying male player.
“Due to not having enough players to compete, the University of Nevada women’s volleyball team will not play its scheduled Mountain West Conference match at San José State,” a statement from UNR read, ahead of the match on Tuesday, October 29. “Per Mountain West Conference policy, the match will be recorded as a loss for Nevada.”
The game was originally set to take place on Oct. 26th, but both schools had agreed to move the game to the 29th and to the Spartans’ home “in the best interest of both programs,” after UNR’s women’s team refused to play against SJSU and its trans-identifying male player.
Initially, the UNR women’s volleyball team released a statement making it the fifth school to forfeit a match against the SJSU women’s volleyball team because the star player is a male.
“We, the University of Nevada Reno women’s volleyball team, forfeit against @SJSU and stand united in solidarity with the volleyball teams of Southern Utah University, Boise State University, the University of Wyoming, & Utah State University,” the statement read in part, as previously reported.
.@Riley_Gaines_ introduces the brave members of the University of Nevada women’s volleyball team at the “Women’s Sports Are For Women Only” event.@SiaLiilii and the team drew a huge reaction from a packed house. @icons_women @TulsiGabbard @CaptainSamBrown pic.twitter.com/S5UZb5pDpZ
— Alejandro Avila (@AlejandroAveela) October 26, 2024
Also included in their statement was the girls’ 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.”
Later, the university released its own statement showing it did not support the move by the women’s team, saying that the school was about “providing an inclusive and supportive environment” and claiming that the prior statement was made “independently and without consultation” with the school.
The university also claimed that the school was governed by a law protecting “the equality of rights under the law” — which includes things like race, sexual orientation, and “gender identity or expression.” It ended with a statement that the match on October 26 would still proceed as planned but that those girls who wished not to play could do so without any disciplinary action.
Backlash ensued against the school, however, and vocal advocates called on the girls to hold the line and refuse to play, as previously reported.
Last week, volleyball captain Sia Liilii promoted a “Women’s Sports Are For Women Only” event to be held on the campus on Saturday, the day of the initially scheduled game, The Las Vegas Review-Journal noted.
“I feel in that meeting that we had where our university told us that we would have to play it,” Liilii said after the event. “I felt like I just had no air, like I was being actively silenced.”
“We’re not backing down,” she added. “We’re fighting for this because it affects not only us. It’s bigger than just listening to this woman’s voice.”
Related: University Turns On Its Women’s Team Over Refusal To Play Against Trans-Identifying Athlete
