Canaan Neary and Dan McDonald lift Half Hollow Hills volleyball
Canaan Neary of Half Hollow Hills reacts after his team’s victory over host Ward Melville a Suffolk boys volleyball game on Tuesday. Credit: Dawn McCormick
There’s only so much opposing teams can do to try to slow down Half Hollow Hills’ tandem of Canaan Neary and Dan McDonald.
The senior outside hitters were flying high and slamming balls down with authority as they led Hills to a 25-23, 25-17, 25-20 win at Ward Melville in Suffolk I boys volleyball Tuesday afternoon.
“We push each other to get better,” McDonald said. “I see him swing as hard as he can and I try to swing harder. “
“I would put them up against any Suffolk County outside hitters,” added coach David Hinde. “They play club ball together and they love to play and they play so well together.”
After a tight first set, Ward Melville took an 11-7 lead early in the second set, but a kill from McDonald started a dominant service run for Kent Malaby.
The junior picked up two aces, McDonald had three kills and Hills forced Ward Melville into a few mistakes in a 10-0 run. Before you knew it, Hills led 23-12 and had all the momentum.
“Kent was putting up serves in the greatest spots every single time,” McDonald said. “We got hyped up every time and with that momentum, me and Canaan started putting balls down and we just got even more energy.”
That energy was on display the entire match.
Neary used his incredible leaping ability to put down an emphatic kill for Hills’ first point of the third set, but he came up with a noticeable limp, which he said was from a calf cramp. He stayed on the court and the very next point, he soared straight up for a block, leading to a collective roar from his entire team.
“I was limping, but I was like, ‘C’mon, we’re up 2-0. I can’t go sit out right now,’” Neary said. “Hills hasn’t been the best volleyball team in a few years and we really just want to show what we’re made of this year.”
Neary totaled 15 kills and two blocks and McDonald had 14 kills and one block. Jordan Cador added 10 kills and two blocks and Dan Lee racked up 32 assists for Hills (5-1).
Kyle Fagan had 23 kills and an ace and Shawn Legge had four kills and a block for Ward Melville (3-2).
“Ward Melville is a really good team,” Hinde said. “Fagan is amazing and Shawn Legge is really good. We have to work on playing those hard cross balls defensively, because Fagan was beating us up with those.”
