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.
 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 MIVA Tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the NCAA National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Championship, which now consists of eight 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
editOn 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
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Members
editThe MIVA comprises nine teams from the NCAA's Division I and Division II.
Current members
editThe "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.
- ^ a b c d e f Currently an NCAA Division I athletic conference.
- ^ a b c Currently an NCAA Division II athletic conference.
- ^ 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
edit| 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
editAffiliations 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.
- ^ Currently an NCAA Division I athletic conference.
- ^ a b c d Currently an NCAA Division III athletic conference.
- ^ a b c Currently an NAIA athletic conference.
- ^ The campus has a Dayton mailing address.
- ^ 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
edit| 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 |
Titles
edit| 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
editUntil 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.
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References
edit- ^ "Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association : MIVA History". www.mivavolleyball.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-14.
- ^ "Lindenwood University to Join the Ohio Valley Conference in 2022-23" (Press release). Ohio Valley Conference. February 23, 2022. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
- ^ a b "Queens University of Charlotte to Join MIVA in 2023" (Press release). Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association. August 15, 2022. Retrieved August 29, 2022.
- ^ "Men's Volleyball Announced as Next GLVC Sport in 2025-26" (Press release). Great Lakes Valley Conference. July 25, 2024. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
- ^ "Northern Kentucky to Join MIVA on July 1, 2025" (Press release). Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association. August 23, 2024. Retrieved October 2, 2024.
- ^ "Men's Volleyball Championship History". NCAA. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
- ^ "Men's volleyball to join MPSF in 2018". Grand Canyon University. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
- ^ "Purdue Fort Wayne Branding Released" (Press release). Purdue University Fort Wayne. June 18, 2018. Retrieved June 21, 2018.