Members of the UNR volleyball team participated in a “Women’s Sports are for Women Only” rally on Saturday afternoon in Reno.

They were slated to play San Jose State University at noon, but became the fifth team to forfeit to the Spartans on Thursday night as part of their ongoing protest against the participation of transgender women in sports.

The rally was initially set to take place at the Little Waldorf Saloon, but was moved to the larger Reno-Sparks Convention Center.

The event was organized by the Independent Council on Women’s Sports, which is funding a lawsuit against the NCAA’s inclusions policies.

Spartans team captain Brooke Slusser joined the lawsuit in September. She named her teammate Blaire Fleming in the filing, saying she wants her off the team on the allegation that she is transgender.

Slusser’s name was met with cheers when mentioned during the rally. Sam Brown, the Republican nominee for Nevada’s U.S. Senate seat, was among the crowd.

Nine UNR players took the stage, but not all spoke. UNR team captain Sia Liilii offered the first words. In her speech, she said UNR was dismissive of players who released a statement forfeiting to San Jose State by saying they didn’t understand the science.

“Before coming out and releasing the statement with my name on it, I was pretty scared, because I didn’t know how people would react to this controversial topic, and I didn’t want to be seen as someone who has hate or any animosity. But the amount of support makes it all worth while,” Liilii told the Review-Journal before the rally.

Nevada Lt. Gov. Stavros Anthony, a Republican, also took the stage at the event, saying that he wants to pass legislation against the inclusion of transgender athletes for women’s protection.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Contact Callie Fin at [email protected]. Follow @CallieJLaw on X.