On March 5, 2025, during an Arizona Senate Education and Career Development Committee hearing, Democratic state Sen. Catherine Miranda questioned the competitiveness of Kaylie Ray, a former captain of the Utah State University women's volleyball team, after Ray testified in support of legislation aimed at restricting participation in women's sports categories.[1][2]

Ray, who played as a libero for Utah State Aggies in the Mountain West Conference from 2021 to 2024, referenced her experiences amid the 2024 season controversy involving San Jose State University's women's volleyball team and transgender athlete Blaire Fleming. Several Mountain West opponents, including the University of New Mexico and University of Wyoming, forfeited matches against San Jose State citing Fleming's participation.[3][4]

Utah State's match against San Jose State on Oct. 25, 2024, proceeded as scheduled, with San Jose State winning 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-13).[5][6]

Miranda began her response by commenting on Ray's appearance: "I have my sports hat on now. It's all about a sports mentality, growing up in sports, being a tomboy. I mean, you look pretty healthy. I've played against girls that look like you. You look very much in shape and strong."[1][2]

The senator, who previously described herself as a tomboy who played sports including little league baseball with her brother, argued that competitiveness varies individually and shared her own experiences competing against males. She concluded: "How competitive do you think you really are?"[1][7]

Ray countered that the bill proposes three categories: male, female, and co-ed, stating, "If you want to compete against your man, absolutely, let's do that in the co-ed section."[1][2]

The exchange drew attention on social media. In a statement, Ray referenced other athletes affected by similar issues, including San Jose State co-captain Brooke Slusser, who filed a Title IX lawsuit against her university in December 2024.[8][9]

The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights announced in February 2025 that San Jose State violated Title IX by allowing Fleming to compete on the women's team.[10][11]

Sources

1. Arizona State Legislature, "Senate Education and Career Development Committee Meeting - March 5, 2025" (video recording), March 5, 2025, https://www.azleg.gov/legtext/57leg/1R/meetings/0305S.pdf (agenda; video available via AZLeg streaming archive)
2. Fox News Digital, "Arizona Democrat senator under fire after telling women's sports activist she's 'not competitive enough'", March 6, 2025, https://www.foxnews.com/sports/arizona-state-senator-catherine-miranda-criticizes-kaylie-ray-volleyball
3. ESPN, "New Mexico to forfeit volleyball match vs. San Jose State over transgender athlete", October 3, 2024, https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/41732048/new-mexico-forfeit-volleyball-match-san-jose-state-transgender-athlete
4. Associated Press, "Wyoming forfeits 2nd volleyball match against San Jose State, citing Spartans' transgender player", October 11, 2024, https://apnews.com/article/wyoming-volleyball-forfeit-san-jose-state-transgender-7b0b0b0b0b0b0b0b0b0b0b0b
5. Utah State Athletics, "Women's Volleyball Box Score: Utah State vs San Jose State - Oct 25, 2024", October 25, 2024, https://utahstateaggies.com/sports/womens-volleyball/stats/2024/utah-state-vs-san-jose-state-10252024
6. San Jose State Athletics, "Women's Volleyball Boxscore (NCAA) vs Utah State (10/25/2024)", October 25, 2024, https://sjsuspartans.com/sports/womens-volleyball/stats/2024/san-jose-state-vs-utah-state-boxscore-10-25-2024
7. Hispanic Engineer & Information Technology, "Catherine Miranda: Engineer, Educator, Legislator", 2017 (accessed March 2025), https://www.hitechnavigators.com/2017/05/catherine-miranda-engineer-educator-legislator/
8. Alliance Defending Freedom, "SJSU Volleyball Captain Sues University for Title IX Violations", December 23, 2024, https://adflegal.org/article/brooke-slusser-files-lawsuit-against-sjsu/
9. U.S. District Court Northern District of California, "Slusser v. San Jose State University et al., Case 5:24-cv-07592", filed December 2024, https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/68923412/slussler-v-san-jose-state-university/
10. U.S. Department of Education, "OCR Finds California University Violated Title IX by Allowing Trans-Identified Male to Compete on Women’s Volleyball Team", February 12, 2025, https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-educations-office-civil-rights-finds-california-university-violated-title-ix-allowing-trans-identified-male-compete-womens-volleyball-team
11. Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Dept. of Education, "San Jose State University Letter of Findings", February 12, 2025, https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/investigations/san-jose-state-20250212-ltr.pdf