Continental Volleyball Conference

US intercollegiate men's volleyball conference

Continental Volleyball Conference

Association| NCAA
Founded| April 4, 2011
Commissioner| JJ Nekoloff
Sports fielded|

* 1

Division| Division III
No. of teams| 8
Headquarters| Madison, New Jersey
Official website| TheCVC.org

The Continental Volleyball Conference is an intercollegiate men's volleyball conference associated with the NCAA's Division III.

## History

[edit]

On April 4, 2011, Gary Williams, Associate Athletic Director of Carthage College announced in Milwaukee the formation of the Continental Volleyball Conference. The league was established as a direct result of the launch of the NCAA Men's Division III Volleyball Championship in the next school year of 2011–12 where the inaugural tournament was held in April 2012.[1]

With the continued growth of Division III men's volleyball, the CVC announced in March 2014 that it would split into two leagues after the 2014 season.[2] The league's six Eastern members retained the CVC name and branding, while the six Midwestern members, plus two other Midwestern schools that had been announced as incoming CVC members, formed a new men's volleyball conference that was later unveiled as the Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League (MCVL).[3] When the split was announced, the eastern members also added Rutgers–Newark, a Division III school which had previously played at the National Collegiate (Division I/II) level as a "grandfathered" scholarship-granting program, for the 2015 season.[4]

The conference added the newly launched men's volleyball program of Alvernia as its eighth member for the 2017 season.[5]

Further membership changes were announced in 2016. First, on October 12, the Middle Atlantic Conferences, whose Commonwealth Conference was the all-sports home of charter CVC member Stevenson and new CVC member Alvernia, announced that its Middle Atlantic Conference would begin sponsoring men's volleyball in the 2018 season, leading to the departure of those schools from the CVC.[6] Within a week of this development, the CVC announced that Kean, Neumann, and Southern Virginia would become new members for the 2018 season, and that Thiel would leave after that same season.[7] Then, on November 21, Ramapo was announced as an incoming member for the 2018 season.[8]

Thiel did not initially announce its future men's volleyball affiliation, but would eventually be revealed as a new affiliate member of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference effective with the 2018–19 school year.[9]

While Thiel left after the 2018 season, the CVC added three new members for the 2019 season, all of which launched new varsity programs at that time. First, in October 2017, Randolph–Macon College was announced as an incoming member.[10] Then, in December of that year, the CVC announced that Elizabethtown College and Immaculata University would also join.[11]

On July 1, 2018, the New Jersey Athletic Conference announced they would add men's volleyball as a sponsored sport. Kean and Rutgers–Newark maintain dual membership in the CVC and NJAC starting in 2018–19.[12] Ramapo College left the CVC and returned to the Skyline Conference; Rampo maintains dual affiliation for men's volleyball in the NJAC and Skyline.[13]

Inaugural member Cairn departed the conference for the 2019–20 academic year after the university's all-sport conference, the Colonial States Athletic Conference, announced the addition of men's volleyball as a conference sport.[14] The CVC added another member when Roanoke College announced the addition of men's volleyball for the 2022 season.[15]

With the addition of men's volleyball in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, Eastern Mennonite, Randolph-Macon, and Roanoke departed the CVC after the 2024 season to participate in men's volleyball competition in their home conference.[16]

Four more members are set to depart after the 2026 season. Drew, Elizabethtown, Juniata, and Wilkes will move men's volleyball to their primary home of the Landmark Conference, which will begin sponsoring the sport in the 2027 season.[17]

## Member schools

[edit]

### Current members

[edit]

The league currently has 8 full members.

Note that because NCAA men's volleyball is a spring sport, the year of joining is the calendar year before the first season of competition.

Institution  | Location  | Founded  | Joined  | Type  | Enrollment  | Nickname  | Primary
conference

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Drew University | Madison, New Jersey | 1867  | 2025  | Private  | 2,113  | Rangers | Landmark
Elizabethtown College | Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania | 1899  | 2018  | Private  | 1,636  | Blue Jays | Landmark
Juniata College | Huntingdon, Pennsylvania | 1876  | 2011  | Private  | 1,593  | Eagles | Landmark
Kean University | Union, New Jersey | 1855  | 2017  | Public  | 16,633  | Cougars | NJAC[a]
Marymount University | Arlington, Virginia | 1950  | 2013  | Private  | 3,633  | Saints | AEC
Rutgers University–Newark | Newark, New Jersey | 1936[b] | 2014  | Public  | 12,011  | Scarlet Raiders | NJAC[a]
Southern Virginia University | Buena Vista, Virginia | 1867  | 2017  | Private  | 1,106  | Knights | USA South
Wilkes University | Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania | 1933  | 2025  | Private  | 2,245  | Colonels | Landmark

### Former members

[edit]

School names and nicknames reflect those in use during the final season each school was a CVC member.

Institution  | Location  | Joined  | Left  | Type  | Nickname  | Current
volleyball conference

|
|
|
|
|
|

Alvernia University | Reading, Pennsylvania | 2016  | 2017  | Private  | Crusaders | MAC
Cairn University[c] | Langhorne, Pennsylvania | 2011  | 2019  | Private  | Crimson Eagles | United East
Carthage College | Kenosha, Wisconsin | 2011  | 2014  | Private  | Redmen | CCIW
Dominican University | River Forest, Illinois | 2013  | 2014  | Private  | Stars | NACC
Eastern Mennonite University | Harrisonburg, Virginia | 2011  | 2024  | Private  | Royals | ODAC
Fontbonne University | St. Louis, Missouri | 2011  | 2014  | Private  | Griffins | N/A[d]
Immaculata University | Malvern, Pennsylvania | 2018  | 2022  | Private  | Mighty Macs | Independent
(United East in 2025)
Lakeland College[e] | Sheboygan, Wisconsin | 2013  | 2014  | Private  | Muskies | NACC
College of Mount St. Joseph[f] | Delhi Township, Ohio[g] | 2011[h] | 2014  | Private  | Lions | MCVL
Milwaukee School of Engineering | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | 2011  | 2014  | Private  | Raiders | NACC
Neumann University | Aston, Pennsylvania | 2017  | 2020  | Private  | Knights | United East
(MAC in 2026)
Ramapo College | Mahwah, New Jersey | 2017  | 2019  | Public  | Roadrunners | NJAC, Skyline[i]
Randolph-Macon College | Ashland, Virginia | 2018  | 2024  | Private  | Yellow Jackets | ODAC
Roanoke College | Salem, Virginia | 2021  | 2024  | Private  | Maroons | ODAC
Stevenson University | Owings Mills, Maryland | 2011  | 2017  | Private  | Mustangs | MAC
Thiel College | Greenville, Pennsylvania | 2011  | 2018  | Private  | Tomcats | AMCC
University of California, Santa Cruz | Santa Cruz, California | 2011  | 2013  | Public  | Banana Slugs | Independent

In addition to the above schools, two other institutions that were adding men's volleyball for the 2014–15 school year (2015 season): Benedictine University in Illinois and Loras College in Iowa—had been announced as new CVC members. They never officially joined the CVC, instead uniting with the six Midwestern CVC schools in the MCVL.[3][j]

### Membership timeline

[edit]

As noted previously, the year of joining is the calendar year before the first season of competition.

## Conference Tournament Champions

[edit]

Season  | Champion  | Record

|
|

2012 | UC Santa Cruz | 17-7
2013 | Juniata | 24-12
2014 | Juniata | 29-5
2015 | Rutgers-Newark | 22-10
2016 | Stevenson | 26-8
2017 | Juniata | 22-11
2018 | Kean | 34-3
2019 | Southern Virginia | 23-4[18]
2020 | Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021 | Southern Virginia | 16-4
2022 | Rutgers-Newark | 23-4
2023 | Juniata | 30-3
2024 | Southern Virginia | 29-1
2025 | Southern Virginia | 35-1

### League titles by school

[edit]

School  | Championships  | Championship Years

|
|

Juniata  |

| 2013, 2014, 2017, 2023
Southern Virginia  |

| 2019, 2021, 2024, 2025
Rutgers-Newark  |

| 2015, 2022
Kean  |

| 2018
Stevenson  |

| 2016
UC Santa Cruz  |

| 2012

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ a b Dual Member of CVC and NJAC for Men's Volleyball.
2. ^ Rutgers University as a whole was founded in 1766. The founding date in this table reflects that of the University of Newark, which was merged into Rutgers in 1946 and became the current Rutgers–Newark campus.
3. ^ Cairn was known as Philadelphia Biblical University until July 2012.
4. ^ Fontbonne dropped men's volleyball after the 2024 season in advance of the university's 2025 closure.
5. ^ Known as Lakeland University since July 2016.
6. ^ Known as Mount St. Joseph University since July 2014.
7. ^ The campus mailing address is Cincinnati.
8. ^ Mount St. Joseph fielded a team in the CVC's first season of 2012. It did not field a team in 2013, but returned for 2014.
9. ^ Dual Member of Skyline NJAC for Men's Volleyball.
10. ^ Benedictine left once its all-sports home of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference began sponsoring men's volleyball in 2017–18, while Loras left the MCVL in 2019 for single-sport membership in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, which added men's volleyball for 2019–20 and beyond.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ History of the CVC
2. ^ "CVC Announces Split As Teams Continue To Join" (Press release). Eastern Mennonite Royals. March 13, 2014. Retrieved September 11, 2014.
3. ^ a b "Raiders' New Conference Has A Name" (Press release). MSOE Athletics. April 4, 2014. Retrieved September 11, 2014.
4. ^ "Transitioning Scarlet Raiders Join CVC" (Press release). Rutgers–Newark Athletics. March 13, 2014. Retrieved September 11, 2014.
5. ^ "CVC Welcomes Alvernia To League" (Press release). Continental Volleyball Conference. May 26, 2016. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
6. ^ "MAC to Sponsor Ice Hockey and Men's Volleyball Beginning 2017–18" (Press release). Middle Atlantic Conferences. October 12, 2016. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
7. ^ "CVC Set For Expansion In 2017" (Press release). Continental Volleyball Conference. October 18, 2016. Retrieved December 24, 2016.
8. ^ "Ramapo College To Become 12th Member of CVC" (Press release). Continental Volleyball Conference. November 21, 2016. Retrieved December 24, 2016.
9. ^ "Hiram, Thiel and Wittenberg to Join AMCC in Men's Volleyball" (Press release). Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference. May 31, 2017. Retrieved February 17, 2018.
10. ^ "Randolph Macon To Join CVC" (Press release). Continental Volleyball Conference. October 14, 2017. Retrieved February 1, 2018.
11. ^ "On the 12th Day of Christmas, CVC Expands To 12 Teams" (Press release). Continental Volleyball Conference. December 20, 2017. Retrieved February 1, 2018.
12. ^ "NJAC to Sponsor Men's Tennis & Men's Volleyball in 2018–19" (Press release). New Jersey Athletic Conference. July 1, 2018. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
13. ^ "Men's Volleyball To Join The Skyline Conference". Rampo College Athletics. April 29, 2019. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
14. ^ "CSAC to Add Men's Volleyball to Sport Sponsorship in 2019–20". Colonial States Athletic Conference. February 26, 2019. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
15. ^ "Men's volleyball becomes newest NCAA sport for Roanoke Athletics". Roanoke College. July 19, 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
16. ^ "ODAC Approves Men's Volleyball as 26th Sponsored Sport". Old Dominion Athletic Conference. October 6, 2023. Retrieved 12 January 2025.
17. ^ "Landmark Conference to Sponsor Men's Volleyball Beginning in 2026–27" (Press release). Landmark Conference. May 16, 2025. Retrieved May 25, 2025.
18. ^ "CVC Record Book" (PDF) (Press release). Continental Volleyball Conference. p. 7. Retrieved April 21, 2019.