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

Players from the University of Nevada, Reno, women’s volleyball the team held a press conference Saturday to respond to their school’s reluctance to forfeit a game against a team that features a transgender player.

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

The program has been officially announced he would lose Friday’s match due to insufficient players, but the players told their athletic department they did not want to play at San Jose State several weeks earlier.

Wolf Pack team captain Sia Liilii was in tears from the moment she took to the podium, recounting 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 Liilii, moved.

Liilii was referring to a statement the university released on Oct. 13 in which she assured the program intended to face San Jose State even though the players voted to opt out.

“Our university made the decision for us. They issued a statement on our behalf saying that we intended to play. We were not consulted, we were not given a say and we did not agree to it,” Liilii said. “It pained me that our university was putting us in a situation that could potentially harm 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 that and know that we’re all alone.

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

“A majority of the Wolf Pack women’s volleyball team issued a statement to the university informing it that the team has decided to forgo its scheduled match against San Jose State University. While players are not authorized to forfeit the game, this decision can only be officially made by the university and our athletics department,” the statement read.

The university added that any player can sit out the match without consequences.

Liilii said Saturday that when her teammates approached school officials expressing their views willingness to give up the match, They were lectured on their “misunderstanding of science” and asked to reconsider their position.

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

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

Nevada sophomore Masyn Navarro claimed her teammates were told to “remain silent” during the press conference regarding the controversy.

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

Nevada freshman Kinsley Singleton said her teammates have had many meetings in recent weeks and shared her fears of potential injury if they had to play against a transgender opponent.

The show previously stated it could not forfeit the match because it would violate state law. Article I, Section 24 of the Nevada Constitution states 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, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, origin or nationality.”

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

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

“As a state university, forfeiture on grounds related to gender identity or gender expression may in itself constitute discrimination and violate the Nevada Constitution,” the university said in a statement.

However, after the controversy gained national attention and it was announced that the match had been moved from Nevada to the Bay Area in California, the program eventually announced an official match 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.

The game cancellations involve a San Jose State player in a lawsuit against the NCAA for forcing him to compete against a transgender teammate who is still on the team.

San Jose State player Brooke Slusser has joined Gaines’ lawsuit against the NCAA over its gender identity policy.

Slusser joined the lawsuit because she claims she had to share the court, the locker room and even a room with teammate Blaire Fleming on overnight trips, even though she was never told that Fleming was a biological male.

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

“All of our athletes adhere to NCAA and Mountain West Conference rules and may play under those organizations’ rules. We will continue to take steps to prioritize the health and safety of our students as they pursue competitive opportunities,” the statement read.

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

“President Trump has our support, and this election is more important than politics, but it is about leaders who will stand with women on and off the field, defending our right to compete safely and fairly,” the players wrote. “As proud athletes, we will continue to fight for justice on the court and in women’s sports. But this shouldn’t be a fight we have to take on alone.”