DENTON, Texas (10/2/09) - North Texas sophomore Irina Paraschiv and junior Madura Ranganathan will compete at the Intercollegiate Tennis Associations All-American tournament this weekend at UCLA.  

"Having two players qualify for All American is a huge step for our tennis program," head coach Sujay Lama said. "To become one of top programs in the country, we've got to have players that can compete at the highest level. Irina and Madura have earned this invite and are very motivated to make the most out of it."

Paraschiv, the Mean Green's No. 1 singles player, will begin her quest to win the All-American in the pre-qualifying round on Saturday morning against Anastasia Putilina of Utah.

It will take three wins for Paraschiv to advance to the qualifying round, which will be held Oct. 6th and 7th at Riviera Country Club.

Ranganathan will join Paraschiv as the only players to be selected to the tournament, which is one of the ITA's national championships. 

The two will also be competing as a doubles team and will see their first action on Saturday. 

Like singles, the duo will have to be victorious three times in order to advance to the qualifying round.