The College Fix

UNR players defy university officials and NCAA policy, citing safety and fairness concerns

The Independent Women’s Forum released a mini-documentary Friday in which the University of Nevada Reno women’s volleyball team captain spoke out against a male athlete competing against them.

The documentary tells the story of how the UNR team defied school officials and NCAA policy to forfeit against San Jose State University.

When team captain Sia Liilii and her teammates found out that there was a biological male competing in their conference, 16 of the 17 of them decided they would not participate, Liilii says in the documentary titled “Hold the Line: College Volleyball Team Captain Stands Firm Against Male Opponent.”

“We weren’t fully supported and backed by university officials at our school. We were told we weren’t educated enough on the subject,” she said.

Still, Liilii “led her team in courageously forfeiting” the match. The team “stood firm for the integrity of women’s sports and player safety,” according to an article accompanying the mini-documentary.

“Liilii’s team was forced to make this decision because of the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) transgender athlete policy, which states female athletes may be required to compete against males who identify as transgender,” it states.

While the team expressed its concerns, the school still issued a statement announcing its decision to proceed with the match.

“It was really gut-wrenching because we hadn’t met with any of the admin at our school,” Liilii said in the documentary.

Despite this, the female athletes prepared a statement refusing to compete against the male player.

“We 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,” the statement reads, as previously reported by The College Fix.

The documentary states that UNR still attempted to move forward with the match, “citing state equality laws which were amended in 2022 to add gender identity and expression to the list of protected characteristics.”

However, the school was forced to forfeit due to a lack of willing participants.

“I was very afraid about coming forth and putting my name on something that was very controversial,” Liilii said, according to Independent Women’s Forum.

However, she said she is happy she stood by her faith and her values and would not “go back and do anything differently.”

“The changes we’re asking for aren’t complicated — they’re just common sense,” she said.

The male volleyball player, Blaire Fleming, concluded his career after San Jose State University lost to Colorado State University in the Mountain West Tournament last December.

UNR was one of five teams to forfeit matches rather than compete against him.

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IMAGE: Independent Women’s Forum

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