Nevada forfeits women’s volleyball game against San Jose State

Nevada has forfeited its Mountain West Conference women’s volleyball match against San Jose State, two days after the game was moved over concerns Wolf Pack players wouldn’t show up.

Nevada played at Fresno State on Thursday night. Rather than going on to San Jose State for Saturday’s match, the school announced the contest is off ‘due to not having enough players to compete.’

‘Per Mountain West Conference policy, the match will be recorded as a conference loss for Nevada,’ the school said in its statement.

Nevada volleyball captain Sia Liilii told the Reno Gazette Journal on Oct. 15 that the team would not play San Jose State following reports there is a transgender player on the Spartans team. The woman has played at San Jose State in previous seasons, and there were no issues with her participation until right-wing activists became involved in recent months.

Nevada initially said the school could not legally forfeit the game against San Jose State, citing state law that prohibits discrimination based on “gender identity or expression.” But the school also said it would not punish players who did not want to play, leaving open the possibility the Wolf Pack would not have the minimum six players needed.

San Jose State has not commented on the gender of any player on its team and has said it complies with all NCAA and Mountain West Conference policies.

As of Monday, San Jose State was still planning to travel to Reno for Saturday’s game. But on Tuesday, the schools issued a joint statement saying the game was being moved to San Jose and the Mountain West had approved the switch. This was seen as a way for Nevada to avoid having to pay San Jose State’s travel costs for a game that was unlikely to happen and also spare Spartans players from possible abuse and harassment.

“The decision to move the location of the match has been made in the best interest of both programs and the well-being of the student-athletes, coaches, athletic staff and spectators,” the schools said in their statement. 

Nevada is the fifth school to forfeit a game against San Jose State this season, joining Southern Utah, Boise State, Wyoming and Utah State. All but Southern Utah are in the Mountain West. None of the other schools have given a specific reason, though it’s believed to be because of the possibility that San Jose State has a transgender player. The schools also have not explained why it’s an issue now when it wasn’t in past seasons.