Former Utah State volleyball star says SJSU trans scandal caused injured fingers, shattered dreams

Former Utah State volleyball player Kailey Ray speaks to Fox News Digital about playing against a transgender athlete for two seasons before learning the athlete was a biological male.

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

In response, she was given comments about her body. 

Arizona Democrat state senator Catherine Miranda told Ray, "I mean, you look pretty healthy… You look very much in shape and strong," after Ray spoke about having to forfeit a game in protest of a trans athlete, at a senate education hearing on Tuesday. 

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"When she started saying those words, the only thing I was thinking is, ‘where could she possibly be going with this?’" Ray told Fox News Digital. "For whatever reason, my physical appearance or stature should have some type of effect on how competitive I am with men. So I was definitely caught off guard." 

Ray said she would accept an apology from Miranda, if she is given one. Miranda's office has not responded to repeated requests for comment. 

Ray showed up to the state house that day to share deep personal trauma from her college volleyball career.

At Utah State, she was an opponent of former San Jose State transgender volleyball player Blaire Fleming for two years in 2022 and 2023, all before having confirmed knowledge that Fleming was male. During that time, Ray said she saw teammates suffer finger injuries from taking Fleming's signature spikes to the hands. 

"I had teammates who had seriously jammed their fingers, luckily not broken, but a handful of girls who had sustained minor injuries from the male player," Ray said, adding that it