Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League
MCVL
EstablishedMarch 13, 2014
AssociationNCAA
DivisionDivision III
Members9
Sports fielded
  • 1
RegionMidwest
HeadquartersCedar Rapids, Iowa
CommissionerChuck Yrigoyen (since 2016)
WebsiteMCVL.org

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

History[]

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]

Current members[]

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. All current and former conference members are private institutions.

The conference formed Eastern and Western Divisions for the 2017 season,[16] 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
Fontbonne University St. Louis, Missouri 1923 2014 CatholicSisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet 2,532 Griffins SLIAC
Mount St. Joseph University Delhi Township, Ohio 1920 2014 CatholicSisters 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[a] Lutheran – ELCA 2,050 Tigers NCAC
  1. ^ Wittenberg first joined in 2015, left in 2018, and returned in 2020.

Former members[]

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 CatholicBenedictine Eagles NACC
Carthage College Kenosha, Wisconsin 2014 2019 Lutheran – ELCA Red Men[a] CCIW
Dominican University River Forest, Illinois 2014 2017 CatholicDominican Stars NACC
Greenville University Greenville, Illinois 2015 2019 Free Methodist Church Panthers N/A (dropped men's volleyball in 2020)[17]
Lakeland University Sheboygan, Wisconsin 2014 2017 United Church of Christ Muskies NACC
Loras College Dubuque, Iowa 2014 2019 CatholicDiocesan Duhawks CCIW
Marian University Fond du Lac, Wisconsin 2015 2017 CatholicCongregation 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.

Championship history[]

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

Membership timeline[]

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

Wabash CollegeBaldwin Wallace UniversityUniversity of Mount UnionTrine UniversityAugustana College (Illinois)Wittenberg UniversityOlivet CollegeNorth Central CollegeMarian UniversityGreenville CollegeAdrian CollegeMilwaukee School of EngineeringMount St. Joseph UniversityLoras CollegeLakeland College (Wisconsin)Fontbonne UniversityDominican University (Illinois)Carthage CollegeBenedictine University

References[]

  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. ^ "MCVL Announces Divisions for 2017 Season" (Press release). Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League. December 15, 2016. Retrieved January 9, 2017.
  17. ^ "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.
Retrieved from ""