Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association

This article is about the NCAA conference of scholarship-granting teams. For the club-level men's volleyball league, see Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association. For the NCAA Division III men's volleyball conference, see Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League.

Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association

MIVA logo
Association	NCAA
Sport	Volleyball
Founded	1961
Commissioner	Tim O'Brien
Division	Division I & Division II
No. of teams	9
Most recent champion(s)	Ohio State Buckeyes (2024)
Official website	mivavolleyball.com

The Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) is a college athletic conference whose member schools compete in men's volleyball. The conference footprint is centered in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Missouri in the west to Ohio in the east, and also extends into North Carolina and will expand into Kentucky in the spring 2026 season. Many of the conference's schools also participate in the similarly named Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association in men's volleyball at the club level.

The MIVA Tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the NCAA National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Championship, which now consists of seven teams playing in a single-elimination format to determine the national champion. The two other pre-2017 major volleyball conferences, the EIVA (Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association) and the MPSF (Mountain Pacific Sports Federation), also send their league tournament champions to the tournament, as do Conference Carolinas (since the 2014 season), the Big West Conference (since the 2018 season forward), and the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (from the 2024 season).

History

On February 4, 1961 the Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Conference, the nation's first men's college volleyball league, was started in Lansing, Michigan by representatives of Ball State University, Detroit Institute of Technology, Earlham College, George Williams College, Lansing College, Michigan State University, Ohio State University, and Wittenberg College. The league came about largely through the efforts of Jim Coleman of Wittenberg College and Don Shondell of Ball State University. The league name was later changed to the Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA). Over the years, more than 40 schools from Divisions I, II, and III, as well as a couple of junior colleges, have participated as members of the MIVA. The current membership is made up of six D-I (including two charter members) and three D-II institutions,^[1] with Lindenwood University^[2] and the newest member, 2023 arrival Queens University of Charlotte, having started transitions from D-II to D-I in July 2022.^[3]

After the 2025 season, Quincy will leave for the new men's volleyball league of its primary home of the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC). Lewis and McKendree, despite being full GLVC members, were not named as part of the inaugural GLVC men's volleyball lineup.^[4] The MIVA membership will remain at 9 teams with the arrival of Northern Kentucky University, which will launch a varsity men's volleyball program in the 2026 season.^[5]

Three MIVA teams have won the NCAA National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Championship, although only two are officially recognized by the NCAA. Lewis' 2003 title was later vacated by the school due to player eligibility issues, and the NCAA no longer recognizes the title. Loyola won the national championship in both 2014 and 2015, and Ohio State won the title in 2011, 2016, and 2017.^[6]

Membership timeline

Members

The MIVA comprises nine teams from the NCAA's Division I and Division II.

Current members

The "Joined" column reflects the calendar year in which a school joined the MIVA. Since NCAA men's volleyball is currently a spring sport, the calendar year of entry precedes the first season of competition, except for schools that joined when the conference was formed in February 1961.

Institution	Location	Founded	Joined	Affiliation	Enrollment	Team Nickname	Primary conference	Arena	Capacity
Ball State University	Muncie, Indiana	1918	1961	Public	21,401	Cardinals	Mid-American[a]	John E. Worthen Arena	11,500
Lewis University	Romeoville, Illinois	1932	1994	Private/Catholic	5,800	Flyers	GLVC[b]	Neil Carey Arena	1,075
Lindenwood University	St. Charles, Missouri	1827	2013	Private/Presbyterian	11,904	Lions	OVC[a]	Robert F. Hyland Performance Arena	3,270
Loyola University Chicago	Chicago, Illinois	1870	1996	Private/Catholic	15,951	Ramblers	Atlantic 10[a]	Joseph J. Gentile Arena	4,963
McKendree University	Lebanon, Illinois	1828	2015	Private/Methodist	3.054	Bearcats	GLVC[b]	Harry M. Statham Sports Center	1,500
Ohio State University	Columbus, Ohio	1870	1961	Public	55,014	Buckeyes	Big Ten[a]	Covelli Center	3,700
Purdue University Fort Wayne	Fort Wayne, Indiana	1964[c]	1981	Public	8,298	Mastodons	Horizon League[a]	Hilliard Gates Sports Center	2,800
Queens University of Charlotte	Charlotte, North Carolina	1857	2023	Private / Presbyterian	2,463	Royals	ASUN[a]	Curry Arena	2,500
Quincy University	Quincy, Illinois	1860	1994	Private/Catholic	1,300	Hawks	GLVC[b]	Pepsi Arena	2,000

1. Currently an NCAA Division I athletic conference.
2. Currently an NCAA Division II athletic conference.
3. Purdue Fort Wayne began operating as a standalone institution in 2018, but inherited its athletic program from Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne, established in 1964.

The most recent change in MIVA membership was the arrival of Queens in 2023.^[3] Before that, the most recent change was the 2017 departure of Grand Canyon for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.^[7] The next changes will be the departure of full GLVC member Quincy for that conference's new men's volleyball league and the arrival of Northern Kentucky, both in 2025–26.

One current MIVA member changed its institutional and athletic identity after the 2018 men's volleyball season. Indiana University – Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW), a joint venture between the Indiana University and Purdue University systems, was dissolved at the end of the 2017–18 school year. IPFW's academic programs in health sciences now operate as Indiana University Fort Wayne, and all other academic programs transferred to Purdue as Purdue University Fort Wayne (PFW). The athletic program was inherited solely by PFW. Shortly before the split took effect, PFW announced that the athletic program, previously known as the Fort Wayne Mastodons, would become the Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons.^[8]

Future member

Institution	Location	Founded	Joining	Affiliation	Enrollment	Team Nickname	Primary conference	Arena	Capacity
Northern Kentucky University	Highland Heights, Kentucky	1968	2025	Public	15,827	Norse	Horizon League[a]	Regents Hall	1,346

Former members

Affiliations reflect those for men's volleyball, and are current for the upcoming 2025 NCAA men's volleyball season (2024–25 school year). Institutional names and nicknames reflect those in current (or, for defunct institutions, most recent) use, not necessarily those used while each school was an MIVA member.

The NCAA's top men's volleyball championship is open to schools in Divisions I and II, with scholarship limits identical for members of each division. Therefore, this table makes no distinction between NCAA Division I and Division II conferences.

Institution	Location	Founded	Joined	Left	Type	Enrollment	Nickname	Current Conference
Detroit Institute of Technology	Detroit, Michigan	1891	1961	1962	Private/YMCA	Closed		No Program
Earlham College	Richmond, Indiana	1847	1961	1985	Private/Quakers	1,019	Quakers	No Program
George Williams College	Downers Grove, Illinois	1890	1961	1985	Private/YMCA	Closed		No Program
Michigan State University	East Lansing, Michigan	1855	1961 1967	1962 1970	Public	50,351	Spartans	No Program
Wittenberg University	Springfield, Ohio	1845	1961	1962	Private/Lutheran (ELCA)	1,738	Tigers	MCVL[b]
University of Kentucky	Lexington, Kentucky	1865	1962	1968	Public	29,182	Wildcats	No Program
Lansing Community College	Lansing, Michigan	1957	1962	1963	Community college	18,551	Stars	No Program
Calvin University	Grand Rapids, Michigan	1876	1962 1970	1962 1970	Private/CRC	3,570	Knights	MCVL[b]
Indiana Institute of Technology	Fort Wayne, Indiana	1930	1962	1973	Private	9,652	Warriors	WHAC[c]
University of Louisville	Louisville, Kentucky	1798	1965	1965	Public	21,430	Cardinals	No Program
Indiana University	Bloomington, Indiana	1820	1965 1973	1969 1979	Public	43,710	Hoosiers	No Program
University of Toledo	Toledo, Ohio	1872	1965 1981	1970 1982	Public	23,085	Rockets	No Program
Southern Illinois University	Carbondale, Illinois	1869	1966	1966	Public	11,695	Salukis	No Program
Valparaiso University	Valparaiso, Indiana	1859	1967	1968	Private/Lutheran (ELCA)	4,500	Beacons	No Program
University of Illinois Chicago	Chicago, Illinois	1946	1967	1970	Public	33,390	Flames	No Program
Purdue University	West Lafayette, Indiana	1869	1969 1982	1975 1986	Public	43,411	Boilermakers	No Program
University of Cincinnati	Cincinnati, Ohio	1819	1969 1980	1969 1982	Public	46,388	Bearcats	No Program
University of Michigan	Ann Arbor, Michigan	1817	1970 1975 1982	1970 1975 1986	Public	46,002	Wolverines	No Program
Anderson University	Anderson, Indiana	1917	1970	1970	Private/Church of God (Anderson)	1,877	Ravens	No Program
Kellogg Community College	Battle Creek, Michigan	1956	1970	1985	Community college	8,400	Bruins	No Program
Bowling Green State University	Bowling Green, Ohio	1910	1971	1985	Public	20,395	Falcons	No Program
Wright State University	Fairborn, Ohio[d]	1967	1978	1979	Public	13,520	Raiders	No Program
University of Wisconsin–Madison	Madison, Wisconsin	1848	1979	1980	Public	44,413	Badgers	No Program
University of Notre Dame	Notre Dame, Indiana	1842	1983	1988	Private/Catholic	12,292	Fighting Irish	No Program
College of Wooster	Wooster, Ohio	1866	1984	1984	Private/Presbyterian (PCUSA)	2,000	Fighting Scots	No Program
Hardin–Simmons University	Abilene, Texas	1891	1986	1986	Private/Baptist	2,392	Cowboys	No Program
Graceland University	Lamoni, Iowa	1895	1987	1990	Private/Community of Christ	2,222	Yellowjackets	HAAC[c]
University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee	Milwaukee, Wisconsin	1956	1991	1997	Public	26,037	Panthers	No Program
Thomas More University	Crestview Hills, Kentucky	1921	1995	1997	Private/Catholic	1,963	Saints	Independent (GLVC in the 2026 season)
Mercyhurst University	Erie, Pennsylvania	1926	1997	2008	Private/Catholic	2,759	Lakers	No Program
Clarke University	Dubuque, Iowa	1843	1998	2007	Private/Catholic	1,200	Pride	HAAC[c]
University of Findlay	Findlay, Ohio	1882	2001	2005	Private/Churches of God (Winebrenner)	3,700	Oilers	No Program
Carthage College	Kenosha, Wisconsin	1847	2005	2007	Private/Lutheran (ELCA)	2,800	Firebirds	CCIW[b]
Milwaukee School of Engineering	Milwaukee, Wisconsin	1903	2005	2007	Private/Nonsectarian	2,820	Raiders	NACC[b]
Central State University	Wilberforce, Ohio	1887	2006	2007	Public/HBCU	2,119	Marauders	SIAC
Grand Canyon University	Phoenix, Arizona	1949	2010	2017	For-profit/Nondenominational[e]	20,500	Antelopes	MPSF

1. Currently an NCAA Division I athletic conference.
2. Currently an NCAA Division III athletic conference.
3. Currently an NAIA athletic conference.
4. The campus has a Dayton mailing address.
5. Grand Canyon's for-profit status is disputed. The U.S. Department of Education considers GCU to be for-profit, but the NCAA, the state of Arizona, and the Internal Revenue Service all treat it as a nonprofit.

MIVA Champions

1961–1989

Year	Regular Season	Tournament
1961	George Williams	No Tournament
1962	George Williams
1963	George Williams
1964	Ball State	Ball State
1965	Ball State	Ball State
1966	Ball State	Ball State
1967	Ball State	Ball State
1968	Ball State	Ball State
1969	Ohio State	Ohio State
1970	Ball State	No Tournament
1971	Ball State
1972	Ohio State
1973	Ball State
1974	Ball State / Ohio State
1975	Ball State / Ohio State
1976	Ball State
1977	Ohio State
1978	Ohio State
1979	Ball State
1980	Kellogg CC	Kellogg CC
1981	Ohio State	Ohio State
1982	Ohio State	Ohio State
1983	Ohio State	Ohio State
1984	Ball State	Ball State
1985	Ball State	Ball State
1986	Ohio State	Ohio State
1987	Ohio State	Ohio State
1988	Ball State	Ball State
1989	Ball State	Ball State

1990–present

Year	Regular Season	Tournament
1990	Ball State / IPFW	Ball State
1991	IPFW	IPFW
1992	IPFW	IPFW
1993	IPFW / Ohio State	Ohio State
1994	IPFW	Ball State
1995	Ball State / Ohio State	Ball State
1996	Ball State / Lewis / Ohio State	Lewis
1997	Ball State	Ball State
1998	Ohio State	Lewis
1999	IPFW / Ohio State	IPFW
2000	Ohio State	Ohio State
2001	Lewis*	Ohio State
2002	Ball State / Loyola Chicago	Ball State
2003	Lewis*	Lewis*
2004	Ohio State	Lewis
2005	Loyola Chicago	Ohio State
2006	Loyola Chicago	IPFW
2007	Ohio State	IPFW
2008	Ohio State	Ohio State
2009	Ohio State	Ohio State
2010	Ohio State	Ohio State
2011	Ohio State	Ohio State
2012	Lewis / Ohio State	Lewis
2013	Lewis / Loyola Chicago	Loyola Chicago
2014	Loyola Chicago	Loyola Chicago
2015	Lewis	Loyola Chicago
2016	Ohio State	Ohio State
2017	Ohio State	Ohio State
2018	Loyola Chicago / Ohio State	Ohio State
2019	Lewis	Lewis
2021	Lewis	Lewis
2022	Ball State	Ball State
2023	Ball State / Loyola Chicago / Ohio State	Ohio State
2024	Ball State	Ohio State

Titles

Total	School	Reg.	Tourney	Last
47	Ohio State	28	19	2024
39	Ball State	24	15	2024
12	Lewis	6	6	2021
11	Purdue Fort Wayne	6	5	2007
10	Loyola Chicago	7	3	2023
3	George Williams	3	0	1963
2	Kellogg CC	1	1	1980

MIVA in the NCAA tournament

Until 2014, the NCAA National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Championship was a Final Four only tournament with the champions of three conferences (EIVA, MIVA, and MPSF) receiving automatic bids and one team getting an at-large bid. In 2014, the tournament expanded to include the champion of the Division II Conference Carolinas and a second at-large team. The tournament expanded to seven teams for 2018 with the addition of the Big West Conference champion, and eight in 2024 with the addition of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion.

Year School Finish 1970 Ball State 4th 1971 Ball State 3rd 1972 Ball State 3rd 1973 Ball State 3rd 1974 Ball State 3rd 1975 Ohio State 3rd 1976 Ohio State 3rd 1977 Ohio State Runner-up 1978 Ohio State 3rd 1979 Ball State 4th 1980 Ohio State 3rd 1981 Ohio State 4th 1982 Ohio State 4th 1983 Ohio State 3rd 1984 Ball State 4th

Year School Finish 1985 Ball State 4th 1986 Ohio State 4th 1987 Ohio State 4th 1988 Ball State 3rd 1989 Ball State 4th 1990 Ball State 3rd 1991 IPFW[a] 3rd 1992 IPFW[a] 4th 1993 Ohio State 4th 1994 Ball State 3rd IPFW[a] 4th 1995 Ball State 3rd 1996 Lewis 3rd 1997 Ball State 3rd 1998 Lewis 3rd

Year School Finish 1999 IPFW[a] 3rd 2000 Ohio State Runner-up 2001 Ohio State 3rd 2002 Ball State 3rd 2003 Lewis Champions [b] 2004 Lewis 3rd 2005 Ohio State 3rd 2006 IPFW[a] 3rd 2007 IPFW[a] Runner-up 2008 Ohio State 3rd 2009 Ohio State 3rd 2010 Ohio State 3rd 2011 Ohio State Champions 2012 Lewis 3rd 2013 Loyola Chicago 3rd

Year School Finish 2014 Loyola Chicago Champions Lewis 5th 2015 Loyola Chicago Champions Lewis Runner-up 2016 Ohio State Champions 2017 Ohio State Champions 2018 Ohio State 3rd 2019 Lewis 3rd 2021 Lewis 3rd 2022 Ball State 3rd 2023 Ohio State Quarterfinals 2024 Ohio State Quarterfinals

1. Branded as "Fort Wayne" in the 2017 and 2018 seasons, and "Purdue Fort Wayne" afterwards.
2. Title vacated due to NCAA violations.

References

1. "Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association : MIVA History". www.mivavolleyball.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-14.
2. "Lindenwood University to Join the Ohio Valley Conference in 2022-23" (Press release). Ohio Valley Conference. February 23, 2022. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
3. "Queens University of Charlotte to Join MIVA in 2023" (Press release). Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association. August 15, 2022. Retrieved August 29, 2022.
4. "Men's Volleyball Announced as Next GLVC Sport in 2025-26" (Press release). Great Lakes Valley Conference. July 25, 2024. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
5. "Northern Kentucky to Join MIVA on July 1, 2025" (Press release). Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association. August 23, 2024. Retrieved October 2, 2024.
6. "Men's Volleyball Championship History". NCAA. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
7. "Men's volleyball to join MPSF in 2018". Grand Canyon University. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
8. "Purdue Fort Wayne Branding Released" (Press release). Purdue University Fort Wayne. June 18, 2018. Retrieved June 21, 2018.

External links

• Official website