An undersized — albeit scrappy — McClatchy team was no match for the intimidating frontcourt of the Davis High boys volleyball team on Thursday night at The Cage.

Led by Sam Manderfield, Michael Johnson and Dan Bonetti, the Blue Devils overwhelmed the Lions up front and captured a 3-0 victory.

McClatchy struggled to get the ball past the net all night long as DHS piled up tipped balls, blocks and massive spikes in bunches.

“I thought everybody on my team worked hard (Thursday). Everybody contributed something,” said Davis head coach Julie Crawford. “McClatchy was very scrappy; they got a lot of balls. We just went at it harder and didn’t roll over and die and kept swinging away.”

In the first set, Manderfield showed off his playmaking skills. Behind his play — which included three spikes in a row at one point — the Devils turned a 4-3 deficit into an 11-6 lead, and went on to win, 25-16.

“He’s consistently dominant,” Crawford said. “We try to encourage him to be the playmaker of the team. He gets his hands down on almost every play. He’s got great ball control. He’s a great leader; he’s one of my captains. So I have high expectations for him.”

The second set was more of the same. DHS smothered the Lions up front and got some solid serving from Bonetti and Bryan Hensley. Johnson also flashed finesse amid the Blue Devils’ punishing spikes, deftly tipping the ball into an empty space in McClatchy territory to give his team a 7-5 lead. The locals continued to pull away after Johnson’s score, and won 25-17.

“I thought Dan Bonetti had his best game of the season so far, by far. He was hitting, he was great in the front row, he was great serving,” Crawford said. “(Johnson) was on fire. He led our team in blocking for sure (Thursday). He probably also led our team in kills. He’s very effective in the middle.”

The Lions finally pulled together in the third set and even held a 19-18 advantage. But Bonetti scored on two serves, before Manderfield put the exclamation mark on the game, smashing a spike into the heart of the McClatchy defense to give DHS a 23-20 lead. The Devils went on to win the set (25-21) and the match.

Davis hosts a tournament on Saturday, in which it potentially could face the Lions again. Pleasant Valley, West Campus and Monterey Trail are also in the mix.

— Reach Will Bellamy at [email protected]

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DHS’ Dan Bonetti goes up high for this kill during the Blue Devils’ home win over McClatchy in three games on Thursday. Fred Gladdis/Enterprise photo

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