Former college volleyball player hits back at soccer star Megan Rapinoe's 'absurd' stance on trans athletes

A former college volleyball player spoke out Friday against Democrats and high-profile female athletes who refuse to protect women's sports from transgender competitors. 

In June 2022 in honor of the anniversary of Title IX, U.S. Women's Soccer superstar Megan Rapinoe offered her take on the backlash towards transgender athletes in women's sports.

"I would also encourage everyone out there who is afraid someone’s going to have an unfair advantage over their kid to really take a step back and think what are we actually talking about here. We’re talking about people’s lives. I’m sorry, your kid’s high school volleyball team just isn’t that important. It’s not more important than any one kid’s life," Rapinoe told TIME. 

Adriana McLamb, a former Division I athlete at Rutgers and FIU, blasted the "absurd" comments. 

"I think it's actually kind of absurd because we do care, especially as a volleyball player. We very much do care about your daughter's high school volleyball team," McLamb said on "Fox & Friends" Friday. 

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"Especially in the case of Payton McNabb, who actually testified this week in North Carolina, who is severely concussed and injured by a biological man on the other side of a net. So we very much do care because this is not just about it being unfair for female athletes, but we're getting to the point that's unsafe."

McNabb, a senior at Hiwassee Dam High School in Murphy, N.C., said she suffered significant and long-term physical and mental injuries last fall when she was spiked in the face by a biological male who was able to compete on a girls’ team because of a policy put in place by the state’s high school athletic association. 

"I'm here for every biological female athlete behind me. My little sister, my cousins, my teammates. Allowing biological males to compete against biological females is dangerous. I may be the first to come before you with an injury, but if this doesn't pass I won't be the last," she said during a press conference Wednesday, speaking out for the first time since her injuries.

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McNabb called on state legislators to pass t​​he Fairness in Women's Sports Act that would prohibit biological males from competing on girls’ sports teams, citing her own experience. That same day, the act was passed by a 73-39 vote, with three Democrats supporting the measure.

The debate surrounding transgender athletes in women's sports has grown heated especially since swimmer Lia Thomas started competing against biological women in 2021. Republicans have become staunch opponents of normalizing transgender athletes from competing against the opposite biological sex. 

"How we got here was we've actually been saying this for a while. You had athletes like Selina Soule a few years back, and then the pinnacle was last year when Riley Gaines, another spokeswoman for IWC, competed against Lia Thomas. And we're now seeing it more and more common that we are seeing biological males and females sports," McLamb said. 

"It's going to be the end of women's sports if we don't stop it."

On Thursday, the House of Representatives took a decisive stance on the debate passing the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act. The act, also called the "Save Women's Sports" bill, was passed in a narrow 219-203 vote, with all Republicans voting "yes" and all Democrats voting "no."

"This bill isn't an anti-trans. It's pro-woman. And to any female athlete, I think it's common sense." - Adriana McLamb

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Despite claims from some Democrats the bill was "bullying," McLamb said she was "very thankful" for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and other Republicans for moving forward with the legislation. 

"This bill isn't anti-trans. It's pro-woman," she said. 

"And to any female athlete, I think it's common sense. In the sport of volleyball, [in] the position I play…the male side is an average of over six feet tall. I'm five-four. I would never be able to compete against a biological male. There's reasons why the net is higher. There's a difference in baseball and softball fields. And there's a reason Title IX was fought so, so hard for 50 years ago, so we had these separate categories, so we can all play on a fair playing field."

Fox News' Aaron Kliegman contributed to this report.