Lathrop’s eight-match home winning streak came to a screeching halt Wednesday night, as visiting Beyer swept the Spartans 25-22, 25-20, 25-15 in a battle for first place in Western Athletic Conference boys volleyball.

The Patriots entered the contest tied for first place with Livingston. Lathrop drops two matches behind first.

“I tried to throw everything at them,” Spartans coach Toa Fa’ali’i said. “They just had our number. They had a lot of tools, and we couldn’t defend everything they gave us. They’re a good squad.

“The game is all about momentum. When you get the ball, you need to serve it over and over. But when we lose a serve, momentum changes. We’ll go back and try to fix what needs to be fixed, but we have a long way to go.”

Gabriel Fa’ali’i paced Lathrop (7-3 WAC, 20-7 overall) with 13 kills and two digs. Cameron Loyola and Marc Llorin added five kills apiece, and Marco Palomares chipped in three kills, two aces and a dig. Jorge Reyes (four digs) doled out 20 assists.

The Spartans led by two points twice in the first set and did not lead at all in the second and third sets. Beyer (9-1, 17-6), led by Brett Bird with 11 kills, two aces and a block, hammered out 13 aces to just two for Lathrop.

“These boys were mentally prepared to play this game,” Patriots coach Melinda Freeman said. “They had a team-bonding dinner last night. They were ready. They wanted so badly to beat this team for a second time this year.

“We control our destiny. We have Livingston on Monday, and we have to play our best against them, because they are a really tough team.”

The Spartans travel to Pacheco on Monday night at 6:30.

Junior varsity

Lathrop 2, Beyer 0

Bayan Gamboa paced the Spartans to a 25-17, 26-24 sweep with five kills and two aces.

Lathrop’s Dylan Beltran added five blocks, three kills and an ace, Elijah Munoz added three kills and Christopher Ygay dished out eight assists.