Photo courtesy CWU Athletics / EppicMedia.com •
Earning nearly 50 percent of the vote, Sui A’au of Central Washington is the Canterbury Player of September. The designation is the first of three monthly awards sponsored by Canterbury. A’au will also be in the running for Canterbury Player of the Fall.
The Central Washington freshman had a monster month, which began in Canada, continued overseas in France, and ended with the Wildcats’ first official match in the National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA).
On Sept. 1, the DI varsity program played its first games of the season with a trip north to the University of Victoria. Although Central Washington lost that first match of the double-header, it was A’au’s coming-out party. The Grant, Ore., product scored the team’s first try, accounting for five of the 12 points that day.
A’au wasn’t available for her college team’s second trip to Canada against the University of Lethbridge because she was busy suiting up for the Girls High School All-Americans, Powered by Atavus. The USA and Canada had been invited to the European U18 7s Championship in France, and A’au injected her brand of power, aggression and evasiveness to the squad that finished second to the hosts.
When she returned to Washington, it was time to host Army in Central Washington’s first league match in NIRA. On Sept. 24, A’au featured heavily once again, scoring six tries against the Black Knights in the 63-17 victory. She showed her range while scoring – the speed in finishing a 50-plus-meter line-break; the handling in scooping up a grubber; the anticipation in an intercept try.
“Sui’s line speed was a factor,” CWU head coach Mel Denham told Wildcatsports.com. “On attack we played at a high tempo which was our goal and were able to find space around the field and exploit it.”
When A’au was profiled as the final player of the week for September, Denham emphasized the freshman’s team-first mentality, that she is eager to learn from her teammates and find her place on the squad. Although it fell outside of the month, Central Washington spent last weekend on an East Coast tour of Norwich and AIC, and A’au tallied another five tries to lead the squad. Looks like those lessons are being well received and applied.
Congratulations to Sui A’au, the first Canterbury Player of the Month for September 2016!
#PlayeroftheMonth