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FAIRBANKS — The University of Massachusetts women’s volleyball team didn’t take long to sweep Saint Joseph’s College on Friday night. Forty-six minutes was all the host Beacons needed for a 25-8, 25-6, 25-7 win over the Monks of Standish, Maine.

It was enough time, though, for freshman setter Frana Burtness-Adams to register a career single-match high of 19 assists for UMass Boston.

The 2009 Lathrop High School graduate also hasn’t taken long to adapt to sport at the NCAA Division III level after playing high school volleyball in Fairbanks for the four previous fall seasons and club volleyball last December through March with the Midnight Sun program in Anchorage.

The 5-foot-9 newcomer has contributed 123 assists in 22 matches, second best for the Little East Conference program ranked third in the D-III New England Women’s Volleyball Association Poll.

“Probably the biggest change is just the speed of the game and being on a team where everyone has the same passion and love for the game that you do,” Burtness-Adams said in a telephone interview following the Saint Joseph’s match. “There’s the same work ethic — you just keep working hard every single day to get better.”

UMass Boston head coach Terry Condon noticed the passion and work ethic when she was recruiting Burtness-Adams.

“She looked like a good athlete,” Condon, a UCLA standout during the 1970’s, said Friday morning from Boston. “She had a decent jump, good instincts for the game and she reacted to balls.

“I thought she had potential but that she needed to work on her hands. All in all, I felt she could be a contributor to the team.”

The 18-year-old wanted to contribute to the volleyball team of the school that she chose last spring after contacting coaches at about 100 colleges, including D-I programs Seattle University and Northern Iowa and California D-II schools Chico State and San Francisco State.

Burtness-Adams has strengthened her hands by tossing a 2- to 5-pound ball off her fingertips every night for 10 minutes while she lays in bed before falling asleep.

The nocturnal setting sessions have helped her become a reliable backup to starter Cassy Hanneman when the sophomore from Denver needs a break or is injured.

However, being the No. 2 setter was another adjustment for Burtness-Adams.

“It’s different. I think it was probably my biggest adjustment when I came here,” she said. “This has never happened to me. I’ve never been No. 2 ever, I’ve always been the No. 1 setter. So, it was very surreal.”

Burtness-Adams described the transition as a nice reality hit.

“It was good, it was something I needed,” Burtness-Adams said. “Now we’re kind of playing evenly. It feels good to be able to earn that spot and be able to kind of just wait for my time to come.”

Her time has come often this season.

“She has a good, hard work ethic, and that’s nice to see,” Condon said.

CAMPUS TRAILS: Junior and West Valley graduate Maggie Callahan led Arizona with an 18th-place and personal-best finish of 21 minutes, 6.2 seconds in the women’s blue team 6,000-meter cross-country race of the NCAA Pre-National Meet in Terre Haute, Ind., on Saturday. Nebraska senior and Soldotna grad Ari Goldstein placed 62nd (21:46.5). Portland freshman Trevor Dunbar from Kodiak placed 31st in 24:15.0 in the men’s 8,000-meter race, and Montana State senior Matthew Atkinson-Adams from Seward placed 98th (25:09.3). The NCAA Division I national championships take place at the site on Nov. 23 ... Oregon junior and South Anchorage grad David Biondi finished in 20:51.02 to place 28th among 143 finishers Friday in the men’s 4-mile race of the Mike Hodges Invitational in Clackamas, Ore. Willamette sophomore and Steller grad Bart Grabman placed 89th (22:57.59).

• Bemidji State (Minn.) overwhelmed host Minnesota-Crookston 45-6 Saturday in a football game that featured at least four Alaskans, including two from the Interior. Bemidji junior cornerback and Lathrop grad Sid Johnson had four tackles and teammate and sophomore linebacker George Percak-Dennett from Wasilla made three. Minnesota Crookston freshman defensive back Ricky Nelson from Eielson and Bemidji State freshman offensive lineman Papapa Nicholas-Silvira from Kenai also played. ... Chadron State sophomore cornerback Nick Rogers, an Eielson grad, contributed three tackles to Saturday’s 38-6 win over Fort Lewis (Colo.) in Chadron, Neb. ... Kodiak grad and sophomore linebacker Stuart McFarland made nine tackles for Monterey Peninsula College in Saturday’s 23-13 win over West Valley in a junior college game in Saratoga, Calif. ... Junior wide receiver and West Anchorage grad Daniel Hardy led host Idaho with three catches for 62 yards in a 35-23 win over Hawaii on Saturday. Junior defensive lineman and Palmer grad Jake Heun had a tackle for Hawaii ... Junior linebacker and Seward grad Coty Beck had five tackles and sophomore tight end and West Valley grad Garrett Jackson made two for Valley City State University in Saturday’s 38-21 win over Mayville State (N.D.) in Valley City, N.D.

• The Francis Marion women’s soccer team, coached by West Valley grad Joel Person, won its second straight game and third of the season with a 3-0 victory over Longwood University (Va.) on Sunday in Florence, S.C. ... Sophomore midfielder and South Anchorage alumna Carly Butcher assisted on the game-winning goal for USC in Sunday’s 3-2 overtime win against California in Berkeley, Calif. ... Sophomore goalkeeper and West Valley grad Liviu Bird recorded two shutouts in four days for the Highline Community College (Wash.) men — a 2-0 win over Olympic College in Bremerton, Wash., on Oct. 14 and Saturday’s 1-0 victory over visiting Tacoma Community College (Wash.) ... Lathrop graduate Shanna Brown registered five saves for the Hawaii Hilo women in a 1-1 tie against Dominican University on Oct. 14 in San Rafael, Calif.

• Ohio State junior defenseman Teal Bishop got her third point of the season with an assist in a 2-2 tie with host Bemidji State in Sunday’s Western Collegiate Hockey Association women’s game ... North Dakota freshman defenseman Candace Molle from Anchorage had an assist in Sunday’s 1-1 tie with Minnesota State in a WCHA women’s game in Grand Forks, N.D.

Contact staff writer Danny Martin at dmartin@newsminer.com or 459-7586.