Kaylie Ray describes trauma from competing towards transgender SJSU athlete

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Former Utah State star athlete Kaylie Ray tried to share her expertise as a sufferer of the San Jose State volleyball scandal with lawmakers.

In response, she was given feedback about her body .

Arizona Democrat state senator Catherine Miranda instructed Ray, "I imply, you look fairly wholesome… You look very a lot in form and powerful," after Ray spoke about having to forfeit a recreation in protest of a trans athlete, at a senate schooling listening to on Tuesday.

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"When she began saying these phrases, the one factor I used to be considering is, ‘the place may she probably be going with this?’" Ray instructed Fox Information Digital. "For no matter motive, my bodily look or stature ought to have some sort of impact on how aggressive I'm with males. So I used to be undoubtedly caught off guard."

Ray mentioned she would settle for an apology from Miranda, if she is given one. Miranda's workplace has not responded to repeated requests for remark.

Ray confirmed as much as the state home that day to share deep private trauma from her college volleyball career .

At Utah State, she was an opponent of former San Jose State transgender volleyball participant Blaire Fleming for 2 years in 2022 and 2023, all earlier than having confirmed information that Fleming was male. Throughout that point, Ray mentioned she noticed teammates undergo finger accidents from taking Fleming's signature spikes to the arms.

"I had teammates who had critically jammed their fingers, fortunately not damaged, however a handful of ladies who had sustained minor accidents from the male participant," Ray mentioned, including that it occurred far more typically from Fleming's spikes than these from feminine gamers.

She added that each one of her teammates had their suspicions about Fleming from the second they watched movie forward of their first matchup on Oct. 1, 2022.

"When this participant was introduced to us, even on movie, the rapid response is ‘whoa,’" Ray mentioned. "It is so apparent to the bare eye that this athlete has athleticism, explosiveness, and an influence that's simply not matched by any of the opposite athletes."

Utah State misplaced that first match towards Fleming, three units to at least one.

Ray mentioned there have been some individuals on her crew that have been making feedback about Fleming being a male.

"After watching this participant compete, it was so apparent to us, however clearly we do not wish to speculate," Ray mentioned.

She mentioned her crew needed to give you a brand new technique that they merely had no want for previous to Fleming's arrival within the Mountain West.

SJSU VOLLEYBALL SCANDAL LAWSUIT COULD BE IMPACTED BY SUPREME COURT TRANS ATHLETE CASES AFTER JUDGE'S DECISION

"As a result of Blaire attacked from such a excessive level of contact… the objective is to only get your arms over the online so far as you'll be able to," she mentioned. "Get your arms low and over, and if Blaire hits excessive of you, it is a good swing by that participant. There was sort of like a helplessness of, 'let's simply do every thing we are able to to power them to set different gamers.'"

Ray mentioned there have been some individuals on her crew that have been making feedback about Fleming being a male. (Courtesy of ICONS, Getty Photographs)

Utah State received the rematch towards SJSU in November, three units to 2. Then they met within the 2022 convention ultimate, and Ray's crew emerged victorious for the second of what can be three straight Mountain West titles. However Ray says they have been finally on the mercy of how properly Fleming performed that day.

"We knew that if the male athlete had an outstanding recreation, there was nothing we may do to cease that individual… and to be fairly sincere with you, Blaire didn't have an ideal recreation," Ray mentioned. "To be truthful, I feel you go into any match hoping that their greatest participant would not have their greatest evening. I will not say that it was complete helplessness as a result of we had overwhelmed them earlier than and we knew we have been able to doing it once more."

The next season, Utah State received each matches towards SJSU, each in straight units. Fleming solely performed within the second of these two video games, lacking time to damage. In that second recreation, Fleming led SJSU in factors, however Utah State had solutions, and received the sport en path to a third-straight convention title.

It was the final time Ray would ever play Fleming.

When the scandal went nationwide in 2024, Ray, as a captain, was attempting to guide her crew to a fourth straight Mountain West championship.

"I wished it so dangerous," she mentioned.

However then, official information of Fleming's start intercourse reached their locker room.

"I felt sick. I felt nauseousness in my abdomen," Ray mentioned.

Her crew needed to put competitors apart.

"[Utah State administrators] ended up sending an nameless survey to our women once we have been on a street journey… merely to explain our ideas and emotions about competing towards San Jose, and our directors took that data and allowed us to forfeit," Ray mentioned.

It was the primary of seven complete forfeited matches the Spartans noticed that season, with every one bringing increasingly scrutiny and danger to this system. However for Utah State, the forfeit additionally reverberated all through their season, behind closed doorways.

"Ladies have been so sick about it… to have that loss on our file, it was actually disappointing," she mentioned. "We have been very distracted throughout the season."

Ray joined the lawsuit led by former SJSU co-captain Brooke Slusser towards the Mountain West later that season, they usually even challenged in court docket to have the results of the forfeited recreation reversed. However a Biden-appointed decide didn't grant the reversal.

And due to that forfeit, Ray's crew completed behind SJSU within the standings. When the brackets got here out, they confronted the anxiousness of understanding for sure, that in the event that they have been to make it again to the championship recreation, they must play SJSU.

"The one factor that anybody may deal with, was ‘properly, if we win, now we have to play San Jose, do now we have to forfeit once more?’" Ray mentioned of the crew's mindset earlier than its first-round recreation towards Boise State that match. "That was very a lot the perspective of my crew… we have been already defeated coming into the match."

FORMER SJSU VOLLEYBALL STAR OPENS UP ON LIVING WITH TRANS TEAMMATE WITHOUT KNOWING ATHLETE'S BIOLOGICAL SEX

Brooke Slusser #10 and Blaire Fleming #3 of the San Jose State Spartans name a play throughout the first set towards the Air Pressure Falcons at Falcon Court docket at East Health club on Oct. 19, 2024, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. (Andrew Wevers/Getty Photographs)

Ray and her teammates did not make it out of the primary spherical. They misplaced to Boise State, who then went on to forfeit to SJSU within the semifinal.

Ray nonetheless hasn't gotten over not profitable that fourth convention title, which she believes her crew would have received had circumstances been regular. But it surely wasn't regular, in any sense.

"We wished it so dangerous, coupled with the trauma and the anxiousness, and simply the horrible, horrible feelings that occurred throughout the season, it was so onerous to maintain that objective in sight."

Ray is completed with faculty volleyball now. She performed another season at Weber State final fall and has graduated with a graduate diploma. Now, a lot of her consideration is put towards combating to "save ladies's sports activities," simply as she tried to do at her state's capital constructing this previous week.

In January, she spoke alongside Slusser outdoors the U.S. Supreme Court docket at a rally throughout oral arguments for 2 instances associated to males in ladies's sports activities. That day, Ray bought her first up-close have a look at the forces opposing her objective, with a passionate pro-transgender rally happening proper subsequent to theirs.

"It was the primary time in my life seeing that assortment of individuals. What struck me most is that up subsequent to their audio system, they have been waiving a flag, a transgender flag, however on the heart of the flag there was a satanic image, it mentioned ‘The Church of Devil,’" Ray mentioned.

"It was so clearly a battle between good and evil… Whenever you upset a celebration of Satanic individuals, they do not care what it's important to say… while you're combating towards evil, it will be uncomfortable."

SJSU is the newest battleground in that struggle.

The U.S. Education Department 's Workplace for Civil Rights (OCR) decided that SJSU violated Title IX in its dealing with of Fleming on the finish of January. However SJSU and the California College (CSU) system are suing the federal authorities to problem that investigation.

"San Jose State is disgusting," Ray mentioned of the lawsuit. "It is so despicable, and it is so weird."

Fox Information Digital has reached out to SJSU and CSU for a response to Ray's feedback.

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U.S. Training Secretary Linda McMahon responded Wednesday, giving the establishments a deadline of 10 days to return to an settlement or danger federal funding cuts and a referral to the U.S. Division of Justice.

"President Trump, what to do," Ray added.

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Jackson Thompson is a sports activities reporter for Fox Information Digital protecting crucial political and cultural points in sports activities, with an investigative lens. Jackson's reporting has been cited in federal authorities actions associated to the enforcement of Title IX, and in legacy media shops together with The New York Instances, The Los Angeles Instances, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Related Press and ESPN.com.