University of Nevada volleyball players watched their season collapse after they refused to play against a male athlete.
Their school promised they wouldn't be punished for standing up for women's sports.
But public records just exposed the moment UNR administrators sat those young women down and threatened them with legal consequences – and there wasn't a single Title IX officer in the room to protect them.
Nevada Volleyball Players Threatened Without Title IX Officer Present
On October 7, 2024, UNR administrators called the women's volleyball team into a meeting with one message: You will play San Jose State.
Four other schools had already forfeited rather than force their female athletes to compete against SJSU's trans player Blaire Fleming.
The Nevada players had privately told administrators they wanted to forfeit too.
The school's response? No Title IX officer present, just administrators ready to shut down any resistance.
UNR Athletics Director Stephanie Rempe confirmed it in an October 12 email to the chancellor: "Our Title IX Officer was not present."
Former team captain Sia Liilii called the meeting "horrible."
Administrators told the players Fleming had no competitive advantage because of estrogen and testosterone blockers – a claim that defies basic biology.
When players expressed concerns about safety and fairness, administrators told them to reconsider the "facts."
Translation: Sit down, shut up, and do what you're told.
April Chainey, mother of a UNR player, was "traumatized" discovering the school held that meeting without the one person whose job is protecting female athletes.
She filed a Title IX complaint immediately.
The school dismissed these young women's voices because what they said didn't fit the NCAA's gender ideology agenda.
Nevada ERA Used to Threaten Female Athletes Over Trans Athlete SJSU Match
After the players went public with their boycott, UNR escalated.
School administrators met with the team again and raised potential "legal issues" if they refused to play.
Marshi Smith – former NCAA swimmer and member of Nevada's lieutenant governor's task force on women's sports – heard what happened next.
Players reached out describing "sweeping intimidation" and "emotional blackmail" from authority figures threatening consequences.
UNR confirmed they warned about "legal issues" tied to Nevada's constitution.
Here's the threat: Nevada's Democrat-controlled legislature revised the state constitution in 2022, adding gender identity as a protected class under the Equal Rights Amendment.
So the same law meant to protect women's equality was being weaponized to force women to compete against men.
The school told these athletes they could face legal consequences under anti-discrimination law for trying to protect women's sports.
Let that sink in.
UNR Staff Worried About Players Meeting Riley Gaines, Conservative Leaders
Internal emails show UNR athletics staff actively worried about players connecting with people who supported their stand.
Assistant AD Aaron Juarez told Athletics Director Rempe he had a "concern" about players meeting with Riley Gaines and Idaho lawmakers.
His worry wasn't media coverage – it was the players connecting with conservatives who validated their position.
The players met with Gaines anyway.
They also met with Tulsi Gabbard, military veteran Sam Brown, and Senator Markwayne Mullin.
Meanwhile, an October 24 email from Rempe listed "Next steps transgender education" on the athletic department's agenda.
UNR hasn't clarified what that transgender education involved.
UNR Volleyball Season Destroyed After Blaire Fleming Forfeit
The October 26 game was moved from Nevada to San Jose days before kickoff.
A day before the match, UNR announced they'd forfeit because not enough players were willing to compete.
The university insisted players could opt out without consequences.
But the damage was done.
After the forfeit, the team went 1-7 to finish the season.
They ended 12-17, missing the postseason entirely.
Liilii lost friends over speaking out.
Players were pulled into constant meetings, questioned by outsiders, distracted from volleyball.
Chainey watched her daughter's team take a forfeit loss that hurt their conference standings – punishment for refusing to validate the NCAA's experiment with women's safety.
She called it "infuriating" that the team was "being bullied."
The 2025 season was worse – last place in the Mountain West at 8-20.
Now they face a federal investigation in 2026.
Trump Education Department Launches Title IX Investigation Into UNR
The Trump administration made clear from day one it wouldn't tolerate the abuse of Title IX to destroy women's sports.
On February 5, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14201: "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports."
The order directed Education Secretary Linda McMahon to prioritize enforcement against schools forcing women to compete against biological males.
The Department of Education launched investigations into SJSU, finding them in violation of Title IX.
UNR is now under federal investigation for how they handled their volleyball team.
In January 2026, eighteen Title IX investigations targeted schools in Democrat-run states with trans-inclusive sports policies.
Nevada was on that list.
Trump's Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor made the position crystal clear: "The previous administration trampled the rights of American women and girls – and ignored the indignities to which they were subjected in bathrooms and locker rooms – to promote a radical transgender ideology. That regime ended on January 20, 2025."
Women's Sports Protection Efforts Gain Momentum After SJSU Scandal
Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo is leading a petition to amend Nevada's constitution to keep biological males out of girls' and women's sports.
The proposed ballot initiative would require publicly funded schools and athletic programs to categorize each sport as male, female, or coeducational based on biological sex.
Liilii moved on to pro volleyball in Kosovo and Germany, where female athletes from other countries strongly support protecting women's sports.
She's waiting to see what consequences SJSU and UNR face from the federal government.
The Supreme Court heard arguments in January 2026 on two cases challenging state laws banning biological males from women's sports.
Education Secretary McMahon affirmed on the courthouse steps that Title IX will be enforced based on "biological reality."
UNR insists it remains committed to an "inclusive, supportive, and respectful campus environment" and complies with all applicable laws.
They claim they supported players' rights to opt out without consequence.
But the records tell a different story – one of intimidation, legal threats, a missing Title IX officer, and a season destroyed because young women refused to pretend biology doesn't matter.
The Trump administration is making sure schools like UNR learn what Title IX was actually meant to protect: women.
Sources:
- Jackson Thompson, "'Horrible' moments exposed for UNR volleyball players when they were roped into the SJSU Title IX scandal," Fox News, February 4, 2026.
- Jackson Thompson, "Education Dept launches 18 Title IX probes after SCOTUS hears arguments in efforts to protect women's sports," Fox News, January 14, 2026.
- U.S. Department of Education, "U.S. Department of Education to Investigate Title IX Violations in Athletics," January 2025.
- Executive Order 14201, "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports," February 5, 2025.