The Michigan High School Athletic Association has been notified that the U.S. Supreme Court will take up its request Friday to review lower court rulings in its gender equity lawsuit.

The MHSAA could learn as early as Monday if the court will hear the case, the association said Thursday in a news release.

A federal appeals court in December refused to grant the MSHAA another hearing on an appeal of a ruling that it discriminates against some female athletes. The appeals court panel in August upheld a lower court's 2001 opinion that the current setup of seasons discriminates against girls in some sports.

Grand Rapids-based Communities for Equity won its lawsuit in December 2001 against the MHSAA, the state's governing body for high school and middle school sports. U.S. District Judge Richard Enslen in Kalamazoo said the scheduling policies violated the equal-protection clause of the 14th Amendment, the federal Title IX statute and Michigan civil rights law.

Enslen directed the MHSAA to propose a realigned sports schedule that would meet with his approval. In August 2003, the judge rejected an MHSAA proposal because it did not include a swap of the girls basketball and girls volleyball seasons.

When Enslen amended the plan to switch the two seasons, the MHSAA appealed to the 6th Circuit, which denied that appeal in July 2004.

The East Lansing-based association then appealed to the Supreme Court, which told the appeals court in Cincinnati to reconsider the case. After the appeals court ruled, the MHSAA turned again to the Supreme Court.