The University of Nevada, Reno athletic director Stephanie Rempe addressed a recent national controversy surrounding her women’s volleyball program in a statement to Fox News Digital.
A dispute between volleyball players and the athletic department over whether to compete against a team with a trans athlete resulted in a last-minute forfeit due to not having enough players to participate on Friday. Players had told the university they did not want to play the match, but the program refused to forfeit until the day before it was scheduled.
Team captain Sia Liilii then alleged that the school told her and her teammates that “they didn’t understand the science” and to “reconsider their position,” at a press conference on Saturday.
On Sunday, Liilii alleged that she and her teammates were told the trans opponent “was at a disadvantage” due to the medication taken to transition from male to female, during the “Stand With Women” event in Philadelphia.
Sophomore Masyn Navarro alleged her teammates had been told to “stay quiet” about the controversy during the Saturday press conference but did not specify who told them.
“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 who have been told to stay quiet,” Navarro said.
Rempe said she has “no knowledge” of the incidents cited by Liilii or Navarro, but she did confirm that she and deputy athletic director Merlene Aitken-Smith held at least one private meeting with the players.
“The deputy athletic director and I met with the volleyball team and coaching staff on Oct. 7, where every member of the team had an opportunity to share their feelings about the situation, ask questions, give their input on next steps, and we provided the opportunity for resources,” Rempe said.
“I did not tell, and am unaware of any member of the athletics administrative team telling members of our women’s volleyball team that they ‘weren’t educated enough,’ that they ‘didn’t understand the science,’ that they should reconsider their position or that they should ‘stay quiet’ regarding their participation in an Oct. 26 match that was scheduled against San Jose State University.”
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GOP Senate candidate Sam Brown, left, poses with Nevada’s Sia Liilii, center right, and former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard. (Sam Brown Campaign)
The university has also announced multiple times that players would be free not to participate in the match without consequences.
Rempe said she offered an apology to the players regarding how they were informed that the university planned to proceed with the game, even after the players voted to forfeit. The team originally approached the administration to tell them that they wanted to forfeit the match, but the program then released a statement indicating the program would not forfeit.
“On Oct. 14 and Oct. 22, I spoke with the team for less than five minutes each time and those gatherings were operational in nature. At all three meetings, I shared our genuine apology for not sharing the statement released on October 3 in advance of their match against UNLV. As has been stated on multiple occasions, we continue to support the rights of the volleyball players who choose and choose not to participate,” Rempe said.
“The focus of our athletic department has always been on the well-being and success of our student-athletes, including their ability to learn and grow from their personal and competitive experiences at our University. This remains our overriding priority regarding all the members of our women’s volleyball team.”
Nevada previously said it could not forfeit the match because it would be a violation of state law. Article I, Section 24 of the Nevada Constitution provides 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, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, ancestry or national origin.” However, the constitution was amended in 2022, when Nevada voted to adopt the Equal Rights Amendment, which added gender identity to the list of protections.
However, that law did not apply on Friday, when the university announced it would forfeit because it did not have enough players to compete.
“The University of Nevada, Reno’s decision to not play its scheduled Mountain West Conference match at San José State on Saturday, Oct. 26 was based on not having enough players to compete and not based on gender identity or expression. This does not violate the Nevada Constitution,” a separate statement from the university provided to Fox News Digital read.
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Blaire Fleming, a redshirt senior at San Jose State University, #3, plays as an outside and right-side hitter on the women’s volleyball team. (San Jose State University)
Nevada became the fifth team to forfeit a match against San Jose State, joining Southern Utah, Boise State, Wyoming and Utah State. The cancelations come with a San Jose State player involved in a lawsuit against the NCAA alleging that she had shared a locker room and bedroom with a transgender teammate, who is still on the team, without ever being told that person was a biological male.
San Jose State player Brooke Slusser joined a lawsuit headed by OutKick host and former collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines against the NCAA due to its policies on gender identity. Slusser joined this lawsuit because she claims that she has had to share a court, a locker room and even a room on overnight trips with her teammate Blaire Fleming without having ever been told that Fleming was a biological male.
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