What is perhaps the nation’s hardest schedule has done no favors for Stanford men’s volleyball (0-6, 0-6 MPSF) as they fell in a 3-0 sweep to No. 2 BYU (9-2, 9-2 MPSF) in Provo on Friday. The match continued the team’s winless season after its sixth straight loss against a top-10 opponent.

BYU’s high-powered offense hit .510 over the course of the match and left the Cardinal unable to put together an effective passing game. Redshirt sophomore libero Justin Lui only logged three digs in the match and three other Cardinal earned just one. 

When the team was able to pass the ball, their hits went horizontal as they racked up a total of 15 attacking errors. The Cardinal only hit .070 in the match and never put together more than 16 points in a set. The team’s best performance came from senior middle blocker Kyler Presho, who hit .400 on 10 attempts, but it wasn’t enough for Stanford to keep pace with the Cougars.

The Cardinal’s campaign wasn’t helped by 500 fans in attendance at the George Albert Smith Fieldhouse, about 10% of the venue’s normal capacity. The only advantage the Cardinal enjoyed was being more disciplined with making sure their face masks covered their nose. While masks help the team avoid catching COVID-19, they’ll need to catch a break to beat the Cougars in a rematch on Saturday.