Motu'apuaka brings pride in Tongan heritage onto the court
Bryant University volleyball junior Alisi Motu'apuaka (Virginia Beach, Va.) wears Black & Gold on the No. 9 Bryant jersey she has sported for her three seasons in Smithfield.
On her arm and her leg, she wears tattoos that represent her pride for Tonga, the homeland of her parents and ancestors.
Tonga is an archipelago of 169 islands in the Pacific Ocean, approximately 1,100 miles north of New Zealand. There are slightly over 50,000 people in the United States of Tongan descent, with the majority in the San Francisco Bay Area, Utah, and elsewhere on the West Coast.
Motu'apuaka's parents both grew up in Tonga and eventually moved to New Zealand, where the oldest of the three children, Andrew, was born. Motu'apuaka's father, Siaosi, would enlist in the US Army in San Francisco, where the middle child, a boy named Army, was born.
The daughter of a 22-year Army veteran, Motu'apuaka was born in Oklahoma and moved to Virginia and Alaska before playing organized volleyball for the first time on a military base in Germany. The family moved back to Virginia, where Motu'apuaka played her club volleyball and first three years of high school, before relocating to Columbus, Georgia, for her senior year having already committed to Bryant.
"It really helped me, especially once I got to Bryant, getting used to new things, adapting, and meeting new people," said Motu'apuaka. "Seeing different coaches' perspectives and knowing how to work with different people is something that benefitted me when I got to college."
The constant moving involved in being the children in a military family didn't prevent the three Motu'apuaka children from finding success in college athletics. Andrew was a two-time All-ACC linebacker at Virginia Tech and Army played football at Division II Virginia Union.
While college and professional football players of Tongan – and more broadly of Polynesian decent – have become more well-known in recent years, there aren't as many playing volleyball at the collegiate level. Motu'apuaka recognizes what it means to be one of a select few playing Division I volleyball, especially outside of more traditional regions.
"When you see another Polynesian or Tongan in another sport, it's very eye-opening, and it's very pleasing to see that you don't only have big football players, but there are girls playing softball and volleyball," said Motu'apuaka. "I take pride in that. I wear it proudly."
The tattoos are the most noticeable way Motu'apuaka wears that Tongan pride, in addition to on her car and the Tongan flag in her social media bios. They certainly won't go unnoticed when the 5-foot-5 Bulldog setter takes the floor for Friday's home opener against North Dakota.
"They're patterns that our ancestors wore on their clothing," said Motu'apuaka. "It really brings me back to home. Even though I'm in Rhode Island, and my family is down South, I know where I'm from, I know where I am, and I know how I got here."
Alisi Motu'apuaka will be ready to go at 6 p.m., with Black & Gold on her shirt and Tonga on her sleeve.
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