Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League

Midwest Collegiate Volleyball LeagueAssociation| NCAA

|

Founded| March 13, 2014
Commissioner| Chuck Yrigoyen (since 2016)
Sports fielded|

* Men's volleyball

Division| Division III
No. of teams| 9 (10 in 2025)
Headquarters| Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Region| Midwest
Official website| MCVL.org

The Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League (MCVL) is an intercollegiate men's volleyball conference associated with the NCAA's Division III.

## History

[edit]

The MCVL was founded in March 2014 by an amicable split of the Continental Volleyball Conference (CVC), which itself had only been created in 2011. The CVC's six Midwestern schools, which had previously formed a CVC division, wished to create a more geographically compact league. The two groups agreed that the CVC's eastern teams would retain the CVC name and branding.[1] Since the CVC retained six members, that group also retained its automatic berth in the Division III national championship.[2] It was also agreed that two Midwestern schools that were adding the sport for 2014–15 (2015 season) and had been announced as incoming CVC members, Benedictine University and Loras College, would instead join the new Midwestern league.[1] The next month, the new league was unveiled as the MCVL.[3]

In September 2014, two Illinois schools that were adding volleyball in the 2015–16 school year (2016 season), Greenville College (now Greenville University) and North Central College, were accepted as the league's 9th and 10th members.[4] Three months later, four additional schools—Adrian College, Marian University of Wisconsin, Olivet College, and Wittenberg University—were announced as new members for 2015–16.[5]

The MCVL was not eligible for an automatic berth in the Division III national championship in its first two seasons (2015 and 2016); during that time, its teams were eligible for at-large berths.[2]

In January 2017, the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC), the all-sports home of five MCVL members—charter members Benedictine, Dominican University of Illinois, Lakeland College of Wisconsin (now Lakeland University) and the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE), plus 2015 arrival Marian—announced that it would begin sponsoring men's volleyball in the 2018 season. This followed previous announcements that NACC members Aurora University and Concordia University Wisconsin would launch varsity men's volleyball in that season, giving the NACC seven men's volleyball schools and an automatic berth in the Division III national championship.[6] As a result, the MCVL initially dropped to nine members for the 2018 season. Before that season, the MCVL returned to 10 members with the addition of Augustana College of Illinois, which was set to begin sponsoring varsity men's volleyball in the 2018 season. Augustana had intended to begin varsity play as an independent with a view toward eventually gaining MCVL membership,[7] but was immediately accepted into the league.[8]

After the 2018 season, the MCVL lost one member and gained another. Wittenberg left to become a single-sport affiliate in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference,[9] while Trine University resurrected a varsity program that last played in 2002 and joined the MCVL.[10]

The MCVL lost half of its 2019 membership when the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) added men's volleyball for the 2020 season. Augustana, Carthage, Greenville, Loras, and North Central, along with new programs at North Park and Millikin, began CCIW conference play in 2020. Greenville and Loras were accepted into the CCIW as associate members. [11] This temporarily left the MCVL in danger of eventually losing its automatic bid to the NCAA championship, but the league restored its membership to the six needed to maintain its automatic bid by adding the University of Mount Union, which had spent its inaugural men's volleyball season of 2019 as an independent, for the 2020 season.[12]

Three schools became members in advance of the 2021 season. Wittenberg returned to the MCVL after a two-year absence,[13] and the league added the new varsity programs of Baldwin Wallace University[14] and Wabash College.[15]

The league's most recent expansion took place after the 2023 season with the arrival of Calvin University, which started a new varsity men's volleyball program. When the MCVL announced Calvin's arrival, it announced a two-year moratorium on the addition of any further members.[16] Fontbonne announced in March 2024 that it would close after the 2024–25 school year,[17] and later announced it would not field a men's volleyball team in the 2025 season.[18] With the departure of Fontbonne, and the moratorium on new members set to expire after the 2025 season, the MCVL announced that Spalding University would join the conference for the school's first season of varsity men's volleyball in 2026.[19]

## Current members

[edit]

The league was founded with eight members. Six joined for the 2016 season, five left after the 2017 season, and one joined for the 2018 season. The 2019 season saw the conference membership remain at 10, with one departing member replaced by a new school. After the 2019 season five teams left and Mount Union was added, dropping the league to six members for the 2020 season. The league returned to nine members for the 2021 season with the return of Wittenberg and the addition of new programs at Baldwin Wallace and Wabash, and returned to 10 for the 2024 season with the addition of another new program at Calvin. The impending closure of Fontbonne dropped the membership to nine members for 2025, and the addition of Spalding will again return the membership to 10 in 2026. All current, former, and future conference members are private institutions.

The conference formed Eastern and Western Divisions for the 2017 season,[20] but reverted to a single-table format following the departure of the five NACC members.[8]

Note that because NCAA men's volleyball is a spring sport, the year of joining is the calendar year before the first year of competition, and the year of departure for former members coincides with the final season of MCVL competition.

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

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Adrian College | Adrian, Michigan | 1859  | 2015  | United Methodist Church | 1,654  | Bulldogs | MIAA
Baldwin Wallace University | Berea, Ohio | 1845  | 2020  | Non-sectarian | 4,177  | Yellow Jackets | OAC
Calvin University | Grand Rapids, Michigan | 1876  | 2023  | Christian Reformed | 3,746  | Knights | MIAA
Mount St. Joseph University | Delhi Township, Ohio[a] | 1920  | 2014  | Catholic – Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati | 2,225  | Lions | HCAC
University of Mount Union | Alliance, Ohio | 1846  | 2019  | Non-sectarian | 2,309  | Purple Raiders | OAC
Olivet College | Olivet, Michigan | 1844  | 2015  | United Church of Christ and National Association of Congregational Christian Churches | 1,145  | Comets | MIAA
Trine University | Angola, Indiana | 1884  | 2018  | Non-sectarian | 2,000  | Thunder | MIAA
Wabash College | Crawfordsville, Indiana | 1884  | 2020  | Non-sectarian | 882  | Little Giants | NCAC
Wittenberg University | Springfield, Ohio | 1845  | 2015, 2020[b] | Lutheran – ELCA | 2,050  | Tigers | NCAC

1. ^ Mailing address is Cincinnati.
2. ^ Wittenberg first joined in 2015, left in 2018, and returned in 2020.

## Future member

[edit]

Institution  | Location  | Founded  | Joining  | Affiliation  | Enrollment  | Nickname  | Primary
conference

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Spalding University | Louisville, Kentucky | 1814  | 2025  | Catholic – Sisters of Charity of Nazareth | 1,532  | Golden Eagles | SLIAC

## Former members

[edit]

School names and nicknames reflect those used in the final season of MCVL membership.

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

|
|
|
|
|
|

Augustana College | Rock Island, Illinois | 2017  | 2019  | Lutheran – ELCA | Vikings | CCIW
Benedictine University | Lisle, Illinois | 2014  | 2017  | Catholic – Benedictine | Eagles | NACC
Carthage College | Kenosha, Wisconsin | 2014  | 2019  | Lutheran – ELCA | Red Men[a] | CCIW
Dominican University | River Forest, Illinois | 2014  | 2017  | Catholic – Dominican | Stars | NACC
Fontbonne University | St. Louis, Missouri | 2014  | 2024  | Catholic – Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet | Griffins | N/A[b]
Greenville University | Greenville, Illinois | 2015  | 2019  | Free Methodist Church | Panthers | N/A[c]
Lakeland University | Sheboygan, Wisconsin | 2014  | 2017  | United Church of Christ | Muskies | NACC
Loras College | Dubuque, Iowa | 2014  | 2019  | Catholic – Diocesan | Duhawks | CCIW
Marian University | Fond du Lac, Wisconsin | 2015  | 2017  | Catholic – Congregation of Sisters of Saint Agnes | Sabres | NACC
Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE)  | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | 2014  | 2017  | Nonsectarian | Raiders | NACC
North Central College | Naperville, Illinois | 2018  | 2019  | United Methodist Church | Cardinals | CCIW

1. ^ "Red Men" dropped after the 2019–20 school year; new nickname of Firebirds adopted in February 2021.
2. ^ Dropped men's volleyball in 2024 in advance of the university's closure in 2025.
3. ^ Dropped men's volleyball in 2020.[21]

## Championship history

[edit]

Season  | Regular season  | Tournament

|
|

2015  | Carthage  | Carthage
2016  | Carthage  | Carthage
2017  | Dominican (East)
Carthage (West)  | Dominican
2018  | North Central  | Carthage
2019  | Carthage  | Fontbonne
2020  | Season canceled in progress due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021  | Fontbonne  | Fontbonne
2022  | Fontbonne  | Mount Union
2023  | Mount Union  | Baldwin Wallace
2024  | Wittenberg  | Trine

## Membership timeline

[edit]

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

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "CVC Announces Split As Teams Continue To Join" (Press release). Eastern Mennonite Royals. March 13, 2014. Retrieved September 11, 2014.
2. ^ a b "Greenville College to Add Men's Volleyball as 15th Intercollegiate Sport" (Press release). Greenville College Athletics. August 27, 2014. Retrieved September 11, 2014.
3. ^ "Raiders' New Conference Has A Name" (Press release). MSOE Athletics. April 4, 2014. Retrieved September 11, 2014.
4. ^ "North Central & Greenville Set to Join MCVL in 2016 Season" (Press release). Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League. September 23, 2014. Retrieved September 28, 2014.
5. ^ "MCVL Announces Expansion to 14 Teams for 2016 Season" (Press release). Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League. December 10, 2014. Retrieved December 15, 2014.
6. ^ "NACC To Add Men's Volleyball In 2018" (Press release). Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference. January 10, 2017. Retrieved June 18, 2017.
7. ^ "Men's Volleyball and Women's Bowling Join the Varsity Sports Lineup for 2017–18" (Press release). Augustana College Athletics. April 18, 2016. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
8. ^ a b "Carthage Picked as MCVL Favorite" (Press release). Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League. December 11, 2017. Retrieved December 12, 2017. Although the MCVL made no official announcement that Augustana would join, it included that school in its 2018 schedule.
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. ^ "Trine Men's Volleyball Team to Compete in MCVL" (Press release). Trine Thunder. October 4, 2017. Retrieved February 17, 2018.
11. ^ "CCIW announces the addition of men's volleyball; Greenville and Loras added as associate members".
12. ^ "Men's Volleyball: Mount Union To Join MCVL" (Press release). Mount Union Purple Raiders. July 11, 2019. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
13. ^ "Wittenberg Back to the MCVL in 2021" (Press release). Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League. January 24, 2020. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
14. ^ "MCVL Welcomes Baldwin-Wallace in 2021" (Press release). Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League. January 21, 2020. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
15. ^ "Wabash Tabs Russell, Joins MCVL for 2020-21 Season" (Press release). Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League. September 16, 2019. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
16. ^ "Calvin University to Become MCVL's Tenth Member in 2024" (Press release). Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League. April 5, 2023. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
17. ^ "Fontbonne University to Close After Summer 2025" (Press release). Fontbonne University. March 11, 2024. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
18. ^ "Fontbonne Announces Athletics Plan" (Press release). St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletics Conference. June 11, 2024. Retrieved October 3, 2024.
19. ^ "MCVL Welcomes Spalding University as New Member for 2026" (Press release). Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League. September 20, 2024. Retrieved October 3, 2024.
20. ^ "MCVL Announces Divisions for 2017 Season" (Press release). Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League. December 15, 2016. Retrieved January 9, 2017.
21. ^ "Men's volleyball to move from intercollegiate sport to club sport in 2020–21" (Press release). Greenville Panthers. March 17, 2020. Retrieved September 7, 2020.