Shae Delany (4), Augustine Wooten and the Santa Barbara High girls volleyball team open the CIF-SS Division 4 playoffs on Thursday with a home match against Burbank-Burroughs. (Gary Kim / Noozhawk file photo)

Defending champions Santa Barbara High and Bishop Diego will begin their CIF-SS girls volleyball playoff runs with home matches on Thursday in new divisions.

The Dons, champions in Division 6 last season, will take on Burbank-Burroughs in the first round of Division 4 competition. Santa Barbara (22-7) won the Channel League title while Burroughs (8-16) is the No. 4 team from the Pacific League.

After capturing the Division 7 title last year, Bishop Diego was moved up to Division 5. The Tri-Valley League-champion Cardinals (13-13) kick off their new division against San Pedro-Mary Star (20-7, Del Rey No. 3).

Playoff matches start at 6 p.m.

San Marcos, Dos Pueblos, Laguna Blanca, Carpinteria and Providence are the other local teams in the playoffs.

Division 3 entrants San Marcos and DP both open on the road. San Marcos (18-9, the Channel League co-runner-up) gets a third shot at Hart (15-5, Foothill co-runner-up). The Royals lost against the Indians in the first match of the season and in consolation play at the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions.

Dos Pueblos (18-8, Channel No, 4) heads to Huntington Beach to face Wave League champion Edison (19-5) in a battle of teams nicknamed Chargers.

Frontier League-champion Laguna Blanca (13-3) will open the Division 7 playoffs on Thursday at home against the winner of a Tuesday wild-card match between Carpinteria (9-4-1) and Wildwood (10-3) in Los Angeles.

In Division 9, Providence (6-6), the Condor League champion, will host the Faith Baptist-Ambassador Christian wild-card winner on Thursday.

Second-round matches are scheduled for Saturday.

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Barry Punzal, Sports Editor

— Noozhawk sports editor Barry Punzal can be reached at bpunzal@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk Sports on Twitter: @NoozhawkSports. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.