Coming off a two-match split vs. Stanford and Oregon in the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge in Palo Alto, Calif., the Gophers volleyball team returns home this week for its annual Diet Coke Classic event at Maturi Pavilion.

The Gophers, ranked No. 9 in this week's AVCA poll, open play Thursday night vs. defending Big South Conference champion High Point. It's the first meeting between the Gophers and Panthers. It will be a homecoming for High Point outside hitter Christine Graf, who was an all-state hitter for Edina in 2019.

On Saturday, the Gophers take on No. 14 Creighton. The Bluejays return five starters from last season's Big East Conference champion team. However, conference player of the year and two-time All-America Norah Sis has missed the past three matches because an undisclosed injury.

Creighton and High Point will play Friday. It's also the first meeting between those two schools.