After missing seven matches with an ankle injury, Jordyn Vaughn returned to the starting lineup to lead Sam Houston to a three-set Southland Conference volleyball victory over Incarnate Word in San Antonio Thursday night.

Vaughn led both teams with 13 kills in 35 attempts as Sam Houston blanked the Cardinals 25-22 25-21 26-24. The sophomore from Huntsville committed only four attack errors.

Madison Wallace and Brooke White added nine and seven kills, respectively. In the middle Shelby Genung was credited with five kills and four blocks. Taylor Cunningham totaled six kills.

Sam Houston out-pointed UIW with 44 total kills to the Cardinals' 36. Michelle Griffith totaled 38 assists. Claire Kilpatrick led the defense with 13 digs.

Each set was a battle. With the opening set tied 21-all, Vaughn began to make her presence known, stringing together four consecutive kills including a put-away on set point.

Sam Houston built a 21-14 lead in the second set and held off a late UIW rally to win the second frame by four points.

After seeing a two sets to none lead disappear last Saturday in a home loss to McNeese, the Bearkats found themselves down in the third. Sam Houston trailed most of the set and were down  23-21.But the Kats rallied with three straight points on a block by Genung, a kill by Griffith and a Cardinal error.

With the third tied at 24-24, a service error by the Cards set up match point and Wallace responded with a block on match point.

Sam Houston now stands 10-9 for the season and 4-1 in Southland Conference play. The Bearkats entered the match Thursday in fourth place in the standings. UIW drops to 3-11 for the year and 1-4 in league action.

Saturday Sam Houston challenges Abilene Christian in the second leg of their West Texas road trip.