Columbia, S.C. - Appalachian State University volleyball split a pair of games on the opening day of the Nike Gamecock Classic, winning 3-2 over Troy in the early match and falling 3-1 to Rice in the nightcap. Senior Brittany Zahn led ASU with 37 total kills on the day while Dianna Thomas had 33 to put the Mountaineers' record at 2-6 on the young season. In the opener against Troy, the Mountaineers won the first game, 31-29, before dropping games two and three, 27-30 and 25-30. The squad fought to take the fourth game, 30-19, and rallied from behind to win the fifth game, 15-13. Zahn a her game-high 24 kills on 55 attempts for a .273 hitting percentage. Classmate Dianna Thomas followed closely with 12 kills while freshmen Jackie Santarelli and Lauren Swecker each had 10 kills. Sophomore Heather Kale led the defensive effort with 21 digs and Charissa Clearman had 56 assists as the primary setter. Kerry Heinz paced Troy with 20 kills in the loss. In the decisive fifth game, ASU trailed 10-7 before kills from Thomas, Santarelli and Swecker and a ball-handling error from the Trojans gave ASU a 11-10 lead. The Apps maintained the one-point advantage until back-to-back attack errors from the Trojans and a kill from Zahn gave ASU the victory. ASU dropped the first two games to Rice, 30-24 and 30-23, before rallying to win the third game 30-28. Unfortunately the Apps couldn't maintain that momentum, falling 30-28 in the fourth game. Thomas had 21 kills on 31 attempts for a stout .548 hitting percentage while Zahn and Carla Durham each hit double-figures with 13 and 11 kills, respectively. The Owls had four players with double-figure kills with Natalie Bogan and Jennifer McClean each recording 16. Setter Meredith Schamun had 62 assists on the team's 75 kills. ASU never led in the first game and took a brief lead in the second game before a 17-9 Rice run put the lead out of reach. In the third game, ASU led until the Owls tied the contest at 23-23. After Rice claimed the lead, the Apps went on a 7-3 run to win the game and force a fourth frame. Much of the fourth game was played with both teams within two points of each other until ASU built up a 25-20 lead. Unfortunately the squad couldn't maintain that lead as four-straight attack errors opened the door for Rice as they held on for the victory. The Apps will meet the host Gamecocks tomorrow to close out the tournament with a 1:30 p.m. match.