Systems and methods are provided for decoding signal vectors in multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems, where the receiver has received one or more signal vectors based on the same transmitted vector. The receiver linearizes each received signal vector using one or more zero-forcing, MMSE, or other suitable linear equalizers. The components of the equalized signal vectors may be combined using maximum-ratio combining to form the components of a combined equalized signal vector. The components of the combined equalized signal vector may then be decoded individually using a linear decoder.