• 
• Red Raiders advance to title game
• Bearly Shawnee
• Bobcats beat out Wildcats
• Iowa teams head into quarterfinals

SIOUX CITY, Iowa -- At 7:30 a.m. a small crowd gathers around two coffee pots and a table full of pastries, Danishes and breakfast goods. Each person files to the table and reaches for a Styrofoam cup, filling it with steaming coffee. Some hands reach for a packet of sugar or to grab a baked good, but most people just mingle in front of the aromatic coffee or sit down at the surrounding tables, and allow their cups to warm their clasped hands.

Each person is dressed the same, in a blue long-sleeve shirt with orange lettering. They all look similar, leaning back and relaxing in their chairs and smiling and talking to one another in the early morning hours. They are in no rush, but are getting prepared to start their day.

Volunteers at the NAIA Division II Women's Basketball National Championships have come to spend their mornings, afternoons, or nights helping with the events at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa. These individuals are responsible for supervising crowds, selling tickets or handing out programs.

A group of six volunteers sit around a white linen table in an empty arena and wait for fans to begin arriving. The quiet, hushed atmosphere is completely opposite of what the volunteers have come to expect every day.

Kathy McKinstrey and Fran Koetz have been volunteering at the tournament for over five years. The pair commutes from Orange City, which is about 45 miles away, every day. They've recruited two other volunteers to make the drive with them.

"We had a friend who worked down here and he recruited us," McKinstrey said.

The same friend recruited volunteer Stan Korthas. Korthas is from Le Mars, Iowa, and travels about 30 minutes to the center every morning. He used to buy a season pass to the center and would sit in the stands, watching the action.

"I had a friend who worked it, and I told him to put me down as a volunteer," Korthas said. "It's all right, it's something to do."

"I enjoy it," said volunteer Paul Van Wechel.

Most volunteers are in charge of a section of the arena. They supervise fans, direct people to their seats and check to keep their section clean.

"We, more or less, supervise a certain area," McKinstrey said.

Yesterday she had to supervise over 160 students who came to watch an afternoon basketball game.

"It's the adults that do that," Van Wechel said. There are over 140 volunteers at the center, which is a necessity for an arena that seats over 6300 people. Not all of the sections are available for seating, but the arena is a large area for volunteers to manage. Thirty-two women's basketball teams bring in fans from all over the country.

"There are people who don't know what snow is," said Korthas. "They've never seen it."

"You meet a lot of good people," Van Wechel said. The group agreed that volunteering is a good way to spend their time at the tournament. "If you're going to come to the games, why not volunteer?" Korthas said. "It's great. I mean, what else are we going to do?" he added.

"Nobody has to be here if they don't want to be," said volunteer Rick Lage. "It makes a difference in their attitude."

 "I love it down here," Van Wechel said.