Soquel High senior Hudson Ward was named MVP of the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League in boys tennis when local coaches in the sport held all-league voting for the first time.
Santa Cruz’s Kumaran Arulanantham was voted Coach of the Year by his peers.
Four players were named singles and doubles on the first team.
Ward, who will play for NCAA Division III UC Santa Cruz in 2026-27, posted a 13-2 record his senior season.
“Hudson had great leadership and respect for all the other players in the league, regardless of level,” Knights coach Ron Ward said. “All four years, he was a point in the lineup. We could expect to him to always show up, and perform.”
Ward repeated as the SCCAL singles champion and qualified for the Central Coast Section Singles Tournament for a second straight season. After beating Piedmont Hills’ Khoi Nguyen 6-4, 6-3 in the first round, he suffered a 7-5, 6-3 loss to No. 2 seed and eventual section champion Lucas Rowe of Carlmont in the quarterfinals.
Ward, Aptos senior Ben Zaretsky, Santa Cruz junior Jeremy Arulanantham and freshman teammate Tenzin Fathman were named to the first team for singles.
Three Cardinals made the doubles first team: Senior Ian Burchell, junior Kai Vargas, and sophomore Oscar Sapunor.
Scotts Valley sophomore Sam Galli rounded out the doubles.
BOYS TENNIS
SPECIAL AWARDS
MVP: Hudson Ward (Soquel), Sr.
Coach of the Year: Kumaran Arulanantham (Santa Cruz)
FIRST TEAM – SINGLES
Ben Zaretsky (Aptos), Sr.
Jeremy Arulanantham (Santa Cruz), Jr.
Tenzin Fathman (Santa Cruz), Fr.
Hudson Ward (Soquel), Sr.
FIRST TEAM – DOUBLES
Kai Vargas (Santa Cruz), Jr.
Oscar Sapunor (Santa Cruz), So.
Ian Burchell (Santa Cruz), Sr.
Sam Galli (Scotts Valley), So.
SECOND TEAM – SINGLES
Stellan Wu (Santa Cruz), Fr.
Torin Miller (Soquel), Sr.
Raphael Bouchet (Scotts Valley), Jr.
Aditya Hannon (Scotts Valley), Sr.
SECOND TEAM – DOUBLES
Nate Wexler (Scotts Valley), So.
Zabel Oatey (Harbor), Jr.
Sawyer Amos (SLV), Jr.
Nico Salinas (Aptos), Jr.
ALL-SPORTSMANSHIP TEAM: George Jertberg (Aptos), So.; Lukas Novotny (Santa Cruz), Fr.; Everett Callendar (SLV), Jr.; Freddy Padilla (Scotts Valley), So.; Abraham Bachar (Harbor), Jr.; Elias Garcia (Soquel), Sr.