No. 2 Solon gets a postseason test right away

This isn't the first-round cupcake a No. 2 team would expect.

No, this is a dangerous opponent with a Division-I player.

"You look at it geographically, and this makes sense," said Solon Coach Kurt Trout, whose team opens Class 3A volleyball regional play Monday at home against Mackenzie Bigbee and Williamsburg. "In a way, it's a shame we play them right away, but it is what it is.

"We'll just play the opponent that's in front of us."

Second-ranked Solon (29-1) won the Wamac Conference East Division championship, then followed that up with the Wamac tournament title. It's been a spectacular season so far.

"Coming in, I knew we were going to be good, but I didn't know how good," Trout said. "We had a lot of pieces in place, and we've had a lot of underclassmen step up."

Now they'll try to neutralize Bigbee, who has committed to play at Iowa State.

The 6-foot senior averages 4.71 kills per game (sixth most in the state) and sports a .330 kill efficiency.

"She's athletic, she's tall, she can jump," Trout said. "She's what you get when you combine athleticism with all sorts of smarts."

The Lady Spartans defeated Williamsburg (17-15) in four games earlier this season.

Solon is one of four ranked teams in the Wamac East, the only rated team in 3A Region 5.

Last year's state runner-up, No. 4 West Delaware (35-6) opens at home against Oelwein, and appears on track to face No. 3 Waverly-Shell Rock in the 3A Region 4 final next week.

No. 7 Maquoketa (29-5) headlines Region 8, a bracket that also includes No. 11 DeWitt Central and No. 13 Davenport Assumption (which play each other). Maquoketa opens at home against Clear Creek Amana.

In Region 6, Marion (29-14) tackles Benton Community (6-28) at home. No. 1 Dubuque Wahlert is the favorite in that region.

Class 4A regionals also open Monday, with most of the top teams owning first-round byes and sitting until Thursday.

Among Metro teams playing right away: Cedar Rapids Jefferson (2-32) is at Linn-Mar (9-25) and Cedar Rapids Prairie (12-20) is at Dubuque Senior (11-19) in 4A Region 7, and Cedar Rapids Xavier (18-16) is at Davenport Central (10-16) in Region 6.