Santa Cruz County had two girls and one boy named to the All-Central Coast Section Water Polo first team. In total, 14 locals received recognition.

Girls coaches throughout the section ranked who they perceived to be the top 15 players, and the top 11 made the first team. The next 11 players made the second team, and 11 players made the third team. Fifteen players were designated honorable mention.

Sacred Heart Prep senior Vivian Golub, a member of the Team USA’s 2024 Women’s Youth National Team, was the No. 1 ranked player. She helped the Gators beat the youth-laden Knights in the CCS Open Division championship.

Soquel sophomore Elizabeth Penny was ranked No. 4 overall and Knights junior Natasha Ackerstein was No. 10. Both made the first team.

“They are both very deserving of being named to the All-CCS team,” Knights coach Shelby White said. “I’m very proud of the work that they put in and it definitely didn’t go unnoticed by all.”

Penny led the Knights (22-8 overall) in goals (73) and assists (42) and was second on the team in steals (51) to freshman Keira Burke (75).

“Liz has grown into a very strong all-around player,” White said. “She was our all-around leading scorer and stepped up in a huge way to push us through in some crucial close games.”

Ackerstein recorded 46 goals with a team-best .517 shot percentage, and made 32 assists, and 33 steals. She also led the Knights with 70 ejections drawn.

“Natasha is our center defender and was a standout for us,” her coach said. “She took on every center we played and was able to keep the ball out of their hands a lot of the time.”

Soquel senior goalie Maddison Barwick, a second-team honoree, was ranked No. 14. Burke was also named to the second team, as was Aptos sophomore goalie Mary Suarez-Abraham.

Soquel freshman Grace Graessle and Santa Cruz junior Violet Rubin were named to the third team.

Soquel sophomore Isabella Bridi-Milligan and Aptos senior Adrianna Santillano were honorable mention selections.

In boys voting, Sacred Heat Prep junior Oliver Marcin, a member of the Team USA’s 2024 Men’s Youth National Team, was named MVP.

Eleven players were named to the first team, 11 to the second team, 12 to the third team, and 23 were honorable mention picks.

Santa Cruz senior Pa’Kalani Saxton was named first team all-CCS and fourth team all-NorCal. He led the Cardinals with 100 goals and 38 steals. He also made 21 assists for the Cardinals (19-6), who earned the No. 5 seed in the CCS Open Division playoffs.

“He’s one of the most athletically gifted players to come out of our program in the past decade,” Cardinals coach Caleb Conroy said. “He was the biggest threat on our team offensively and allowed us to be more successful. I hope he continues to play at the next level.”

Soquel senior Cash Wolf was named second team all-CCS and all-NorCal honorable mention.

Santa Cruz junior Hayden Johnson was named to the all-CCS third team.

Santa Cruz senior Matthias Cruz, a two-time SCCAL MVP, and Soquel senior goalie Jacob Henshaw were named to the honorable mention team.