A college volleyball player who refused to compete against a biological male player is telling her story in a new documentary, shared first with Fox News Digital.
Sia Liilii, team captain for the University of Nevada, Reno’s women’s volleyball team, drew national headlines in October when she and her teammates refused to play a scheduled match against San Jose State after learning that an alleged transgender-identifying biological male player was on the team.
During the preseason, Liilii said she was “blindsided” after coming across viral clips of the San Jose player “hitting balls that were undefendable and honestly were a safety concern for many of us.”
“Sixteen of the 17 of us had already pretty much made up our minds and said, ‘Hey, this is not right. We’re going to take a stand,'” Liilii says in IW Features’ “Hold the Line.”
Weeks before the game, Liilii’s team decided to forfeit their match against San Jose State, which was scheduled to take place on October 26.
However, when the team brought their concerns to the athletic director, Liilii claims their decision was not supported.
“We were told we’re not educated enough on the subject,” she said. “That we needed to reconsider our positioning on what we were doing because it was something we could not comprehend yet.”
“Our coaches supported us, and they made it clear that they were behind us in whatever decision we made… but I don’t feel like we were fully supported or backed by a lot of university officials at our school,” she added.
The university sent Fox News Digital a statement denying that the players were ever told they were “not educated enough on the subject.”
“The University of Nevada athletics director and deputy director met with the Nevada volleyball team and coaching staff on Oct. 7, 2024 where every member of the team present had an opportunity to share their feelings about the situation, ask questions, give their input on next steps and were provided the opportunity for resources,” the statement read. “The team was not told that they ‘weren’t educated enough on the subject’ during this meeting by the athletics director or the deputy director. On Oct. 14 and Oct. 22, 2024, the athletics director spoke with the team for less than five minutes during each occurrence and those gatherings were operational in nature.”
University administrators said they told the team they could not forfeit the match “for reasons related to gender identity or expression” because it would violate the state’s constitution.
On the day before the match, the school officially announced they would forfeit the game due to not having enough players willing to compete against San Jose State.
Nevada was the fifth team to forfeit its match against San Jose State, joining Southern Utah, Boise State, Wyoming and Utah State, who all officially forfeited their scheduled games against the California school.
Liilii, who grew up in Hawaii and earned a Division 1 scholarship to the University of Nevada in 2021, said that not being supported by her university was “really tough.”
“I was very afraid about coming forth, but I don’t think I’d do anything differently,” she says in the documentary.
Liilii is now joining other female athletes in fighting back against these policies as an Independent Women’s Forum ambassador advocating for women’s sports.
“Fairness and safety in women’s sports shouldn’t be up for debate, which is why we’re proud to feature the voices of Sia Liilii, McKenna Dressel and Kinsley Singleton,” Andrea Mew, managing editor for IW Features and producer of the documentary, said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
THE CLOCK IS TICKING FOR THE NCAA TO CHANGE ITS TRANS POLICY AND PROTECT WOMEN’S SPORTS
“These women won’t settle for less. Governing bodies like The National Collegiate Athletic Association (“NCAA”) need to step up and stop letting woke policies erase the achievements of these hardworking female athletes and many more. Women’s sports should be about fair competition, not bending the rules for inclusivity. It’s simple — keep women’s sports for women and make the changes now. No more excuses,” she added.
“Women’s sports belong to women only and men’s sports belong to men only because it gives us a chance to champion the sport without being dominated by the other sex,” Liilii said. “No one wants to be in a position to put their career at risk… If men are allowed to compete against women, women will be erased from sports.”
Liilii’s story comes amid a growing movement of female athletes demanding the NCAA revise its current policies that allow transgender athletes to compete on women’s teams.
Former collegiate swimmer and Independent Women’s Forum ambassador Riley Gaines has spearheaded this movement, filing a lawsuit against the NCAA last March, which alleges its policy on trans players violates Title IX protections for female college athletes.
Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., revealed this week that he plans to introduce a joint resolution alongside Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., that would call on the NCAA to revoke eligibility of trans athletes who compete as women.
Fox News’ Jackson Thomas contributed to this article.
