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College football's No. 3 defense in yards and points allowed last season featured six senior starters. All but one of those BYU products will get a shot at playing in the National Football League.
Meantime, the nation's No. 1 men's volleyball team will get its shot at a fourth national championship, as BYU takes its MPSF tourney title to Los Angeles and the NCAA's Final Four.
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As the NFL Draft concluded on Saturday, free agent deals began getting done, and with Ziggy Ansah in the Detroit Lions' fold as the fifth-overall pick, it was time for his teammates to pick their teams by fielding free agent offers.
Four of Ansah's defensive compatriots landed free agent deals or camp invites, while a pair of offensive linemen signed free-agent contracts, meaning seven of BYU's nine offensive/defensive senior starters lost from last season's team are getting an opportunity to play at the next level:
DRAFT
DE Ziggy Ansah: Detroit Lions (1st round, 5th overall)
FREE AGENTS
LB Uona Kaveinga: Denver Broncos
NT Romney Fuga: Denver Broncos
LB Brandon Ogletree: Miami Dolphins
OL Braden Hansen: Oakland Raiders
OL Braden Brown: St. Louis Rams
CAMP INVITE
DB Preston Hadley: Seattle Seahawks
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Switching sports, the Cougar men's volleyball team wrapped up its first MPSF tournament championship in nine years with a straight-set win over Long Beach State Saturday night at a raucous Smith Fieldhouse in Provo.
The last time BYU won the tourney title, in 2004, the Cougars went on to win their third national championship.
Top-seeded BYU opens the Final Four with a Thursday night match against fourth-seeded Penn State at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion.
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Photo: Courtesy BYU Photo
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