The UTRGV volleyball team is gearing up to participate in the Geri Polvino Invitational in Richmond, Kentucky. 

The Vaqueros are coming off loses to Texas State and UTEP in the Southwest Showdown tournament. Both teams participated in the NCAA tournament last season. 

Head Coach Todd Lowery mentioned that these tournaments have served as a learning experience so the team can be prepared for conference play. 

"We got to be better at stopping teams out of servicing," Coach Lowery said. "Both of them sided out against us at a very high percentage and that's what put us behind it, but if you can compete against those two teams you're going to probably hold your own in the Southland {Conference}."

"Our goal is in the conference so we're using this tournament to get to know each other because we are a lot of new people in this team," UTRGV outside hitter Martina Franco added. 

UTRGV takes on Northern Kentucky Friday morning to open up tournament play, followed by a match against Eastern Kentucky in the afternoon.

The Vaqueros wrap up the Geri Polvino Invitational on Saturday against Akron.