Nevada volleyball forfeits game vs San Jose State after players refuse to compete amid trans inclusion issue

The University of Nevada, Reno officially announced on Friday that its women's volleyball team will forfeit its game against San Jose State on Saturday. 

Nevada is the fifth team to forfeit its match against San Jose State amid an ongoing national controversy over a transgender player on the team and another player engaged in a lawsuit over never being told that player was a biological male, according to the lawsuit.

Nevada cited not having enough players to compete in the match for forfeiting after its players expressed a desire and intention not to compete against San Jose State. 

"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 on Saturday, Oct. 26. Per Mountain West Conference policy, the match will be recorded as a conference loss for Nevada," Nevada announced in a statement early on Friday morning. 

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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)

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

"Our athletes all comply with NCAA and Mountain West Conference policies and they are eligible to play under the rules of those organizations. We will continue to take measures to prioritize the health and safety of our students while they pursue their earned opportunities to compete," the statement read. 

Nevada players, including team captain Sia Liillii, spoke out against the notion of competing against a transgender player in the weeks leading up to the cancelation after voting to forfeit it on Oct. 14. The players even went so far as to schedule a press conference alongside OutKick contributor and women's athlete activist Riley Gaines to go on at the same time as the game on Saturday. 

However, Nevada would not officially forfeit the game until Friday morning, citing state law. 

"The university made the decision not to declare a forfeiture and move forward with hosting the match as scheduled based on several factors. As a public university, the university is legally prohibited by Section 24 of the Nevada Constitution and other laws and regulations to declare a forfeit for reasons related to gender identity or expression," a Nevada spokesperson previously told Fox News Digital. 

The Nevada state constitution was revised in 2022 when Nevada voted to adopt the Equal Rights Amendment, which added gender identity to the list of protections. Nevada state Sen. Pat Spearman, a Democrat from North Las Vegas who co-sponsored the bill to get it on the ballot, said the law has helped transgender people maintain their identity.

On Tuesday, both Nevada and San Jose State announced that the match would be moved from Nevada's campus in Reno to San Jose State's campus in the Bay Area in California, claiming the location change was "in the best interest of both programs and the well-being of the student-athletes, coaches, athletic staff and spectators."

San Jose State would have needed to be at the site of the match, however, in order to receive a forfeit victory if no Nevada players end up playing. By moving the site of the match to the San Jose State campus, then the Spartan players would not have to make the trip to Nevada in order to secure the forfeit victory. So, by making this change, San Jose State will get to claim a forfeited victory if no Nevada players choose to play, without leaving their home state. 

Now that the match has been officially forfeited, no one will have to do any traveling. 

MEGAN RAPINOE DEMANDS PROTECTION FOR TRANS PEOPLE AHEAD OF ELECTION

From front left to right, San Jose State setter Brooke Slusser celebrates after scoring a point with libero Randilyn Reeves, outside hitter Blaire Fleming and libero Alessia Buffagni during the first set of an NCAA college volleyball match against Colorado State, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024, in Fort Collins, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Nevada joins Southern Utah, Boise State, Wyoming and Utah State, which all have officially forfeited their scheduled games against San Jose State.

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. 

Security concerns and threats against San Jose State players have made traveling for matches a high-risk endeavor for the lady Spartans. San Jose State previously confirmed to Fox News Digital that police protection had been assigned to the team, shortly after getting the first news of an opponent forfeiting, when Southern Utah announced that it would not play its match against the Spartans in September.

"One of my teammates got a DM, basically saying that she, and then my team, needed to keep my distance from me on gameday against Colorado State, because it wasn’t going to be a good situation for me to be in and that my team needed to keep their distance," Slusser told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview. "They needed to keep their distance from me during the game, because something was going to happen to me.

"This was the first physical threat when we could easily see that they wanted to physically harm one of us."

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University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas and Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines react after finishing tied for 5th in the 200 Freestyle finals at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships on March 18th, 2022, at the McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta, Georgia.  (Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

In June, a survey conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago asked respondents to weigh in on whether transgender athletes of both sexes should be permitted to participate in sports leagues that correspond to their preferred gender identity instead of their biological sex. 

Sixty-five percent answered that it should either be never or rarely allowed. When those polled were asked specifically about adult transgender female athletes competing on women’s sports teams, 69% opposed it.

The United Nations released study findings that say nearly 900 biological females have fallen short of the podium because they were beaten out by transgender athletes.

The study, titled "Violence against women and girls in sports," said that more than 600 athletes did not medal in more than 400 competitions in 29 different sports, totaling over 890 medals, according to information obtained up to March 30.

"The replacement of the female sports category with a mixed-sex category has resulted in an increasing number of female athletes losing opportunities, including medals, when competing against males," the report said.

Former President Donald Trump has gone so far as to advocate for a ban, in a recent town hall event on Fox News.

"We're not going to let it happen," Trump said of the issue. "We stop it, we stop it, we absolutely stop it. We can't have it.

"You just ban it. The president bans it. You don't let it happen. It's not a big deal."

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