 MIVA logo | |
| Association | NCAA |
|---|---|
| Sport | Volleyball |
| Founded | 1961 |
| Commissioner | Tim O'Brien |
| Division | Division I &Division II |
| No. of teams | 9 |
| Most recent champion | Loyola Ramblers (2025) |
| Official website | mivavolleyball.com |
TheMidwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) is acollege athletic conference whose member schools compete in men'svolleyball. The conference footprint is centered in theMidwesternUnited States, stretching fromMissouri in the west toOhio in the east, and also extends intoKentucky andNorth Carolina. Many of the conference's schools also participate in the similarly namedMidwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association in men's volleyball at the club level.
The MIVA Tournament champion receives an automatic bid to theNCAA 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 doConference Carolinas (since the 2014 season), theBig West Conference (since the 2018 season forward), and theSouthern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (from the 2024 season).
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] withLindenwood University[2] and the newest member, 2023 arrivalQueens University of Charlotte, having started transitions from D-II to D-I in July 2022.[3]
After the 2025 season,Quincy left for the new men's volleyball league of its primary home of theGreat 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 remained at 9 teams with the arrival ofNorthern Kentucky University, which starts varsity men's volleyball play in the 2026 season.[5]
Three MIVA teams have won theNCAA 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]
The MIVA comprises nine teams from theNCAA'sDivision I andDivision II.
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.
The most recent changes in MIVA membership were the arrival of Northern Kentucky and departure of Quincy in 2025. Before that, the most recent change was the addition of Queens in 2023.[3]
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 theIndiana University andPurdue University systems, was dissolved at the end of the 2017–18 school year. IPFW's academic programs in health sciences now operate asIndiana 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.[7]
Affiliations reflect those for men's volleyball, and are current for the ongoing 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.
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 2025 | Loyola Chicago /McKendree | Loyola Chicago |
| Total | School | Reg. | Tourney | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 47 | Ohio State | 28 | 19 | 2024 |
| 39 | Ball State | 24 | 15 | 2024 |
| 12 | Lewis | 6 | 6 | 2021 |
| 12 | Loyola Chicago | 8 | 4 | 2025 |
| 11 | Purdue Fort Wayne | 6 | 5 | 2007 |
| 3 | George Williams | 3 | 0 | 1963 |
| 2 | Kellogg CC | 1 | 1 | 1980 |
| 1 | McKendree | 1 | 0 | 2025 |
Until 2014, theNCAA National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Championship was a Final Four only tournament with the champions of three conferences (EIVA, MIVA, andMPSF) receiving automatic bids and one team getting an at-large bid. In 2014, the tournament expanded to include the champion of theDivision IIConference Carolinas and a second at-large team. The tournament expanded to seven teams for 2018 with the addition of theBig West Conference champion, and eight in 2024 with the addition of theSouthern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion.
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