BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — Quinnipiac University's softball coach testified today that officials at the Connecticut university ordered her to manipulate Title IX reports to the US Department of Education to inflate the number of women appearing to be on the team.

Coach Germaine Fairchild testified in federal court in Bridgeport in a lawsuit brought by members and the coach of the university's volleyball team. The players and coach Robin Sparks are accusing the school of failing to provide female students with an equal opportunity to participate in varsity intercollegiate athletics.

Fairchild said Athletic Director Jack McDonald and Tracey Flynn, the university's associate athletic director, told her to carry at least 25 players on the softball team roster when reports were submitted in the fall to the federal government.

Fairchild said she was only given money to fund 17-player rosters, and extra players on the teams quit after she told hem they wouldn't have uniforms or equipment.

Federal Title IX laws, enacted in 1972, require schools to provide equal access to athletic opportunities regardless of gender.

To comply with Title IX, a school can show proportionality of female athletes to female students on campus; or a history of increasing sports for women; or prove it has met the interest and ability of the underrepresented group.

Fairchild's testimony followed McDonald's admission Tuesday that coaches on some Quinnipiac men's teams also manipulated their rosters by dropping players before submitting reports to the federal government, in order to meet gender equity goals. The teams would add the players again after the reports were submitted.

McDonald said the university did set goals for the size of each team in an effort to get the proportions of men and women in the athletic department more in line with the proportions of the school's general population. But he said, the administration did not condone the practice of dropping and adding players to meet those goals.

Quinnipiac has 21 Division I sports — 10 men's and 11 women's programs. Citing budget cuts because of the recession, the school announced in March that it was ending women's volleyball, cutting men's golf and outdoor track, and promoting cheerleading to varsity status.

Cheerleading coach Mary Ann Powers testifed Tuesday that her sport is overseen by several competing organizations and she did know whether cheerleading could be considered a sport for Title IX purposes.

The school's student population is estimated to be about 63 percent women next year, and under roster management goals, about 62 percent of its athletes will be women, McDonald said.

Sparks and her players are asking U.S. District Judge Stefan Underhill for an injunction that would require the university to keep the team until the lawsuit is resolved.

Closing arguments in the hearing are expected Thursday. Underhill has not said when he will issue a ruling.