The No. 7-ranked Gophers volleyball team defeated Clemson 25-22, 25-22, 26-24 on Thursday night in the opening match of the Diet Coke Classic at Maturi Pavilion.
Stephanie Samedy and Regan Pittman each had nine kills to lead Minnesota (5-2). Samedy also had a team-high 15 digs while Taylor Morgan led the Gophers with seven blocks and Kylie Miller had 27 assists.
"We started strong — the Pav takes a little bit of acclimating to," Gophers coach Hugh McCutcheon said. "Clemson did a nice job of serving their way back into it. Their first contact was pretty good.
"[I'm] happy with the win. Serving was good for us and we were good at the net, no question."
The Gophers, who have won four matches in a row, were coming off a 3-1 victory over then-No. 1 Stanford last Saturday at Penn State.
Kaylie Korte led the Tigers (5-5) with 15 kills; she also had 13 digs.
The Gophers outhit Clemson .195 to .147 and outblocked the Tigers 12-7.
But Clemson had more kills, 44-39, and more digs, 64-60.
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