West
Volleyball player nearly forced to face transgender opponent cries, alleges school pressured team to compete
Players on the University of Nevada, Reno women’s volleyball team held a press conference Saturday to address their school’s reluctance to forfeit a match against a team with a transgender player.
Alongside former NCAA swimmer and OutKick contributor Riley Gaines, multiple players spoke about the situation on the day they were scheduled to face San Jose State. The program officially announced it would forfeit the match Friday due to not having enough players, but the players had told their athletic department they didn’t want to play San Jose State weeks earlier.
Wolf Pack team captain Sia Liilii broke down in tears from the minute she took the podium while she recounted her experience telling school officials she didn’t want to compete against a transgender player.
“When the news broke, I was stunned, as many of my teammates were. This is not what we signed up for,” an emotional Liilii said.
Liilii referenced a statement the university released Oct. 13, assuring the program intends to face San Jose State despite players voting to forfeit.
“Our university had made a decision for us. They released a statement on our behalf saying we were going to play. We were not consulted, we were not given a voice and we did not agree,” Liilii said. “It hurt knowing our university was putting us in a position that could potentially hurt us. My teammates and I were very emotional, and I’m not sure, I cannot put into words how it feels to face something like this and knowing that we are all on our own.”
Nevada previously provided a statement to Fox News Digital confirming that the players had requested to forfeit the match but did not have authority to do so themselves.
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“A majority of the Wolf Pack women’s volleyball team issued a statement to the university informing it that the team had decided it was forfeiting the scheduled match with San José State University. While players are not authorized to forfeit the match, this decision is one that only the university and our department of athletics can officially make,” the statement said.
The university added that any player was free to sit the match out without consequences.
Liilii said Saturday that when her teammates approached school officials expressing their desire to forfeit the match, they were lectured about “not understanding science” and asked to reconsider their stance.
“We felt unsafe and dismissed,” Liilii said, sobbing. “We met with our school officials to give them our team’s new statement, but they wouldn’t even hear it. We were told that we weren’t educated enough and that we didn’t understand the science. We were told to reconsider our position.”
Nevada Wolf Pack women’s volleyball players with Sam Brown and Tulsi Gabbard. (Sam Brown Campaign)
In addition to her university, Liilii also called out the Mountain West Conference and the NCAA, saying the institutions “are failing us.”
Nevada sophomore Masyn Navarro alleged her teammates have been told to “stay quiet” about the controversy during the press conference.
“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 of us have been told to stay quiet,” Navarro said.
Nevada freshman Kinsley Singleton said her teammates had multiple meetings in recent weeks and shared their fears of potential injury if they had to play against a transgender opponent.
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The program 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, that 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.
“As a state university, a forfeiture for reasons involving gender identity or expression could constitute per se discrimination and violate the Nevada Constitution,” the university’s statement said.
However, after the controversy got national attention, and it was announced the match was moved from Nevada to the Bay Area in California, the program finally announced an official forfeit once it became clear it wouldn’t have enough players to compete.
Nevada is the fifth team to forfeit a match against San Jose State, joining Southern Utah, Boise State, Wyoming and Utah State. The cancellations come with a San Jose State player involved in a lawsuit against the NCAA over being forced to compete with a transgender teammate who is still on the team.
San Jose State player Brooke Slusser joined a lawsuit led by Gaines against the NCAA over its policies on gender identity. Slusser joined this lawsuit because she claims she has had to share a court, a locker room and even a room on overnight trips with teammate Blaire Fleming without having ever been told Fleming was a biological male.
Blaire Fleming, a redshirt senior at San Jose State University, plays as an outside and right-side hitter on the women’s volleyball team. (San Jose State University)
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 said.
Nevada players, including Liilii and Sierra Bernard, wrote an op-ed for Fox News Digital Friday, praising former President Trump for his stance advocating for a ban on transgender athletes in women’s sports.
“President Trump has our back, and this election is more important than politics but about leaders who will be standing with women on and off the court, defending our right to compete safely and fairly,” the players wrote. “As proud female athletes, we will continue to fight for fairness on the court and in women’s sports. But it shouldn’t be a fight we have to take on alone.”
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If you headed to the lake early last week, you missed the best fireworks. Dan Lanning and his staff put on a cup of coffee and closed like the Wolf of Wall Street. Minus the cocaine, probably.
All jokes aside, and believe me, these are jokes, the recruiting this staff is doing is not a joke. From June 28 to July 3, a span of 6 days Oregon added four new commitments and all were four stars or better. If you weren’t paying attention, Oregon landed 12 commits in the months of June and what we’ve had in July so far.
The recruiting class has surged from the teens to No. 9 to start last week to No. 3 overall by Friday afternoon. Only Texas A&M and Notre Dame have better recruiting classes according to Rivals. Oregon has the best class in the Big Ten conference.
The 24 commits sit at an average rating of 90.76 according to Rivals. Additionally 16 of the 24 commits are ranked four-stars or better and that includes the Ducks having a pair of 5-Star commitments. Oregon has 11 defensive commits, 11 offensive commits and 2 listed as athletes.
Up next is a commitment from four-star linebacker Brayton Feister set for Saturday, July 11. I don’t believe that addition will move Oregon up in the rankings but will strengthen their current position.
With five-star wide receiver Xavier Sabb committing, Oregon now has a commitment from 17 different states. Should Feister from Ohio pick the Ducks on Saturday, that would give Oregon an 18th state. The national reach of this program is as good as any school in the country.
Last year Oregon finished with the No. 4 ranked class in the nation. The 2025 class also finished at No. 4 nationally.
The early signing period for the 2027 class begins on December 4 and ends on December 6. The transfer portal window begins on January 2.
Oregon kicks off its 2026 season opener at home on September 5 vs Boise State.
ST. GEORGE, Utah (KUTV) — Gov. Spencer Cox’s executive order imposing a temporary statewide ban on fireworks has expired, leaving state officials to decide what restrictions, if any, will be in place for Pioneer Day on July 24.
The statewide ban expired July 5. State and unincorporated county areas remain under Type 2 fire restrictions, which prohibit fireworks and open flames. Cities are responsible for setting their own restrictions.
“I think going into Pioneer Day, the restrictions are going to have to be what they were for the Fourth of July,” said Jason Bradley, director of emergency management for Washington County. “Nothing’s changing. The fuels are still what they are. Everything is super dry.”
Bradley said the fireworks restrictions were “very successful” in Washington County, with no significant wildfires started. However, he said there were still violations that caused house fires and property damage.
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“There were plenty of violations. I saw dozens and dozens of calls throughout the night,” he said. “Our dispatch was inundated with people calling saying, ‘Hey, people are starting fireworks in my neighborhood.’ There’s only a few areas where that was allowed.”
Bradley said it is a “very tough political call” to tighten restrictions for cities and the state.
“Those leaderships have a lot at stake. There’s a lot of commerce that’s at stake. Your political folks understand the financial ramifications for vendors of fireworks, and they understand our desires as really the citizens of America that we want to do that,” he said. “But there are other safer ways to celebrate this year. The problem is so bad right now that I see the leadership, the political leadership, needing to do something like that again for the 24th.”
Bradley said officials are exploring alternatives for Pioneer Day, including a designated area where people could legally use fireworks.
“We’re hoping that we could come up with a location for the county for unincorporated areas that we might be able to allow those people to come do fireworks. It’s in the works. We just want to try to have somewhere for folks to do it besides just a few parks here in St. George,” he said. “But again, we’re pretty dry. Those efforts could fall through. We’re going to see if we can’t come up with something.”
Bradley added that even a single fire can divert resources needed to patrol for fireworks violations, making enforcement difficult. He said anyone who causes a fire can be held criminally, civilly and financially liable for the damage.
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The Washington Commanders are looking for a bounce back performance from their offense, and they’ll need their wide receivers to take a step up to do so.
Terry McLaurin is the clear No. 1 option at the position, but after him, there are several questions about how the rest of the room will shake out. The No. 2 spot is wide open, and there are several players who could fit the role and others in David Blough’s new scheme. Analysts Santana Moss, Logan Paulsen and Fred Smoot broke down the position on one of the most recent “Command Center” podcast episodes, and as one of the franchise’s all-time best receivers, Moss had a few thoughts on the group. Here’s his assessment on three wideouts and how they could fit into the offense.
“Knowing that he can play both outside and inside, I would think with some of the guys and their size and their experience, I would mainly probably see Antonio attack that middle. I think his route running ability is already to the level of some of these guys who have already played at this level. And just showing me that you don’t look like that this is new to you … He ain’t scared to go out and compete against these guys. To me — and we don’t know anything; we’re just sitting here speculating and assuming — I’d say he’s a slot guy out the gate.”
“I think if I had to just say if I look at that paper, and I asked any coach in this building by name how they think this guy played…if you tell me that Burks played well this offseason, he would be my No. 2 out the gate. He would be my No. 2 wide receiver because one: he brings size, he brings speed, he brings a gear at that size that a lot of people ain’t comfortable checking … You got a guy with size, leaping ability, the catch radius and can run.”
“They talk about how he was one of those guys from Day 1 that could play every position, and that’s stemming from him being a quarterback. Quarterbacks learn the game a little different from just a regular skill position guy. Luke came in here, and he knew X, he knew Z, he knew Gator. When you have those intangibles and you have that kind of mindset when it comes to playing that position, they can use him where they want to use him. That’s why I said he’s a great committee guy. He’s a guy that I know I’m gonna have on special teams as a returner, and guess what? If he’s not the starter, I’m okay with that because I know I’m going to ask more of him if somebody needs to take a breather.
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