On October 26, the University of Nevada Reno (UNR) women’s volleyball team forfeited a match against San Jose State University (SJSU), the fifth team to do so. They joined the women of Southern Utah University, Boise State University, Utah State University, and the University of Wyoming in refusing to compete against a male player who claims to have a “woman gender identity.”
UNR co-captain Sia Liilii and eight of her teammates joined Riley Gaines and the Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS) at a standing-room-only rally at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center on the day the match was scheduled. Weeks earlier, the team had told the UNR athletic department that they did not wish to compete against SJSU, but it wasn’t until the day before that the program announced the match would be forfeited due to not having enough players. Meanwhile, the student athletes were told that they did not understand science and needed to educate themselves. In a statement dated October 13, UNR announced that the team would compete against SJSU despite its players having voted to forfeit.
“Our university had made a decision for us. We were not consulted, we were not given a voice, and we did not agree,” said Liilii at the October 26 rally. “It hurt knowing our university was putting us in a position that could potentially hurt us.”
At least one American volleyball player, North Carolina student-athlete Payton McNabb, has been left with life-altering head and neck injuries, including impaired vision and partial paralysis, after being spiked in the face by a male player. Blaire Fleming, the male SJSU player, has knocked down two opponents with the force of his spike.
In an op-ed published to Fox News Digital on October 25, the UNR volleyball players said, “As proud female athletes, we will continue to fight for fairness on the court and in women’s sports. But it shouldn’t have to be a fight we take on alone.”
They are not alone; Article 7 of the Declaration on Women’s Sex-Based Rights reaffirms women’s rights to the same opportunities as men to participate actively in sports and physical education. Sia Liilii and her teammates have shown immense courage and discipline in defying their university’s unjust treatment of female athletes. WDI USA commends these young women for taking a principled stand for fairness in women’s sports.
