Aptos’ Natalia Ackerman named Cal-Hi Sports’ Girls D-III State Athlete of the Year

Aptos High senior two-sport star Natalia Ackerman was named Cal-Hi Sports’ Girls D-III State Athlete of the Year on June 25.

A first-team all-league right side hitter on the volleyball team, she helped in the Mariners win the CIF Division-IV NorCal and state titles in the fall. In the winter, she helped Aptos win its third Central Coast Section title in four years and led it to the CIF NorCal semifinals — three wins shy of a state title.

She earned close to a dozen postseason awards as a senior, including Sentinel Girls Athlete of the Year.

“I was super surprised,” Ackerman said of her latest accolade. “I can’t believe it. I felt like we were done with awards and here’s another one. And, wow, it’s a big one.”

Stanford University basketball player Haley Jones, a Santa Cruz resident who prepped at San Jose Archbishop Mitty, was named Cal-Hi Sports’ overall State Athlete of the Year winner last year. Ackerman is the first state athlete honoree from a Santa Cruz County school since Soquel’s Desarie Knipfer (softball) was named the winner for medium-sized schools in 1993-94.

“Natalia, over her four-year high school career, has proven she is one of the best players to ever come out of Santa Cruz County,” Mariners coach Bruce Funk said after Ackerman was named Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League MVP. “This year, she was completely dominant, both offensively and defensively, and on top of that, she was a great teammate.”

Ackerman will play basketball for Cal Poly San Luis Obispo next season. She said she has already begun training, shooting and dribbling, as well as working on her cardio and lifting weights.

“There’s a lot more pressure to keep up with what I have done here and maintain it in Cal Poly,” the 6-foot-1 forward/center said.

She produced 574 points, 314 rebounds, 94 steals, 67 blocks and 77 assists this season to help the Mariners (27-5) win their third straight SCCAL title and repeat as CCS D-III champion.

Along the way she had 18 double-doubles as the Mariners reached the CIF NorCal semifinals. She finished with a school-record 1,782 points and pulled down 1,143 rebounds in her illustrious career.

“She’ll be an Aptos High Hall of Famer,” Funk said after Ackerman was named Sentinel Athlete of the Year. “I have no doubt about that.”

In volleyball, Ackerman finished with 230 kills in 88 sets — the second highest total on the Mariners (21-13, 9-3) behind star junior outside hitter Peyton Dueck (290).

“She’s an unreal athlete,” Lake Merchen, the Mariners’ volleyball coach, said of Ackerman. “She’s explosive, whether running, jumping, diving or whatever. She’s the type athlete you tend to build around.”

Aptos finished in third place in the stacked SCCAL behind co-champs Harbor (22-9, 10-2) and Soquel (18-6, 10-2), but found another gear in postseason.

The Mariners lost to No. 1 Burlingame in four games for the CCS D-III crown, but advanced to the CIF NorCal playoffs by reaching the CCS title match.

Placed in D-IV for the state playoffs, No. 7 Aptos toppled No. 10 Union Mine in the first round and followed with three straight upsets on the road, beating No. 2 Marina Academy, No. 3 Escalon and No. 5 Tamalpais, to claim the NorCal title. The Mariners beat No. 1 Nordhoff, the SoCal champion, 25-12, 25-17, 26-28, 25-21 for the state title.

AWARDS

Natalia Ackerman
Cal-Hi Sports’ State Girls D-III Athlete of the Year
Prep2Prep’s CCS Girls Basketball Senior of the Year
Sentinel Girls Athlete of the Year
Cal-Hi Sports’ State Girls D-III Girls Basketball Athlete of the Year
Cal-Hi Sports’ D-III Girls Basketball first-team all-state
SportsStarsMag.com’s All-NorCal Girls Basketball, Senior Salute
All-SCCAL MVP, Girls basketball
All-Bay Area Preps HQ team, Girls basketball, Second team
All-SCCAL Girls Volleyball, first team