ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington women's rugby team (1-1) will stay on the road for one more week when they travel to Phoenix to take on the Grand Canyon Antelopes (1-0) this Saturday, October 21 at 10:00 a.m. from the GCU Track/Practice Soccer Field.
 
"The team had another great week of preparation for the upcoming weekend," CWU Head Women's Rugby Coach Matt Ramirez said. "We know it will be a big task to travel and play in the desert heat, but we are focused on the controllables. I'm excited to see the team get another opportunity to put it all together and compete in every moment."
 
The Wildcats will look to ride the momentum of a 22-12 victory on the road at BYU last week in BYU's first game as a member of the D1 Elite League. Emma McCabe, Jennilyn Aquino, Vivianne Wright, and Jessica Postle all had successful tries while Kai Brandt-Templeton had a successful conversion in the win over the Cougars.
 
Grand Canyon secured a victory over New Mexico State to open their season. They will also play a game on the road at the University of Arizona (0-1) Friday night before returning back to Phoenix for their showdown against CWU on Saturday. The Wildcats will face three Washington products on the 'Lopes roster, Atley Boyd (Puyallup), Zariah Fa'aopega (Vancouver), and Samantha Garcia (Renton).
 
Similar to last week, Grand Canyon is a new member of the D1 Elite League, moving up from the Women's D1 College Rugby League along with BYU for this season. This will also be their first D1 Elite League matchup. Last season the Antelopes finished with a 9-5 record with a 6-1 conference record. They also were a perfect 4-0 on the road. They went 1-3 at the CRAA National 7's Championship in Houston posting a 44-0 victory over New Haven, but falling to Penn State, Harvard, and Davenport before their final game against West Chester was canceled.
 
The Antelopes and Wildcats have only met once before with the Wildcats cruising to the 130-0 victory in Phoenix on March 6, 2021.