By Kyle Arensdorf

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UK volleyball is back in Memorial Coliseum for a pair of games this weekend against the University of South Carolina and Louisiana State University.

The Cats (16-6, 8-3 SEC) are just seven games from the end of the regular season and are third in the SEC behind the University of Missouri and the University of Florida.

UK was swept by No. 7 Missouri on Sunday as part of a weekend that also saw the Cats win a 3-1 match against the University of Arkansas.

Freshman outside hitter Anni Thomasson led the way with 15 kills on the day to go along with seven digs. Thomasson’s 15 kills was a career-high.

South Carolina (12-11, 3-7 SEC) is coming off of more than a weeklong layoff. The Gamecocks lost to UK 3-0 on Oct. 13 in Columbia

Senior outside hitter Whitney Billings led the team against South Carolina with 18 kills and 10 digs.

The Gamecocks are 2-5 in their last seven games but defeated Coastal Carolina University in a five-setter on Oct. 30.

LSU (14-7, 4-5 SEC) enters the weekend with a 1-4 record in its last five matches.

LSU head coach Fran Flory is in her 16th year with the team and earned AVCA Coach of the Year in 2009.

Flory was the head coach of the Cats from 1993 to 1997 and left with a 78-80 overall record.

LSU freshman Briana Holman has registered 10-plus kills in 16 of her last 19 matches, including 12 kills coming off the bench against the No. 5 Florida.

The Cats will face South Carolina at 7 p.m. Friday and LSU at 1 p.m. Sunday.

The match against LSU will be televised on CWKYT.