Continental Volleyball Conference

The Continental Volleyball Conference is an intercollegiate men's volleyball conference associated with the NCAA's Division III.

Continental Volleyball Conference
AssociationNCAA
FoundedApril 4, 2011
CommissionerJJ Nekoloff
Sports fielded
  • 1
DivisionDivision III
No. of teams9
HeadquartersMadison, New Jersey
Official websiteTheCVC.org

History

On April 4, 2011, Gary Williams, Associate Athletic Director of Carthage College announced in Milwaukee the formation of the Continental Volleyball Conference. The league was established as a direct result of the launch of the NCAA Men's Division III Volleyball Championship in the next school year of 2011–12 where the inaugural tournament was held in April 2012.[1]

With the continued growth of Division III men's volleyball, the CVC announced in March 2014 that it would split into two leagues after the 2014 season.[2] The league's six Eastern members retained the CVC name and branding, while the six Midwestern members, plus two other Midwestern schools that had been announced as incoming CVC members, formed a new men's volleyball conference that was later unveiled as the Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League (MCVL).[3] When the split was announced, the eastern members also added Rutgers–Newark, a Division III school which had previously played at the National Collegiate (Division I/II) level as a "grandfathered" scholarship-granting program, for the 2015 season.[4]

The conference added the newly launched men's volleyball program of Alvernia as its eighth member for the 2017 season.[5]

Further membership changes were announced in 2016. First, on October 12, the Middle Atlantic Conferences, whose Commonwealth Conference was the all-sports home of charter CVC member Stevenson and new CVC member Alvernia, announced that its Middle Atlantic Conference would begin sponsoring men's volleyball in the 2018 season, leading to the departure of those schools from the CVC.[6] Within a week of this development, the CVC announced that Kean, Neumann, and Southern Virginia would become new members for the 2018 season, and that Thiel would leave after that same season.[7] Then, on November 21, Ramapo was announced as an incoming member for the 2018 season.[8]

Thiel did not initially announce its future men's volleyball affiliation, but would eventually be revealed as a new affiliate member of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference effective with the 2018–19 school year.[9]

While Thiel left after the 2018 season, the CVC added three new members for the 2019 season, all of which launched new varsity programs at that time. First, in October 2017, Randolph–Macon College was announced as an incoming member.[10] Then, in December of that year, the CVC announced that Elizabethtown College and Immaculata University would also join.[11]

On July 1, 2018, the New Jersey Athletic Conference announced they would add men's volleyball as a sponsored sport. Kean and Rutgers–Newark maintain dual membership in the CVC and NJAC starting in 2018–19.[12] Ramapo College left the CVC and returned to the Skyline Conference; Rampo maintains dual affiliation for men's volleyball in the NJAC and Skyline.[13]

Inaugural member, Cairn departed the conference for the 2019–20 academic year after the university's all-sport conference, the Colonial States Athletic Conference, announced the addition of men's volleyball as a conference sport.[14]

Member schools

Current members

The league currently has 9 full members.

Note that because NCAA men's volleyball is a spring sport, the year of joining is the calendar year before the first season of competition.

InstitutionLocationFoundedJoinedTypeEnrollmentNicknamePrimary
conference
Eastern Mennonite UniversityHarrisonburg, Virginia19172011Private1,589RoyalsODAC
Elizabethtown CollegeElizabethtown, Pennsylvania18992018Private1,636Blue JaysLandmark
Juniata CollegeHuntingdon, Pennsylvania18762011Private1,593EaglesLandmark
Kean UniversityUnion, New Jersey18552017Private16,633CougarsNJAC[n 1]
Marymount UniversityArlington, Virginia19502013Private3,633SaintsAEC
Randolph–Macon CollegeAshland, Virginia18302018Private1,146Yellow JacketsODAC
Roanoke CollegeSalem, Virginia18422022Private1,920MaroonsODAC
Rutgers University–NewarkNewark, New Jersey1936[n 2]2014Public12,011Scarlet RaidersNJAC[n 3]
Southern Virginia UniversityBuena Vista, Virginia18672017Private1,106KnightsUSA South

Former members

School names and nicknames reflect those in use during the final season each school was a CVC member.

InstitutionLocationJoinedLeftTypeNicknameCurrent
volleyball conference
Alvernia UniversityReading, Pennsylvania20162017PrivateCrusadersMAC
Cairn University[n 1]Langhorne, Pennsylvania20112019PrivateCrimson EaglesUEC
Carthage CollegeKenosha, Wisconsin20112014PrivateRedmenCCIW
Dominican UniversityRiver Forest, Illinois20132014PrivateStarsNACC
Fontbonne UniversitySt. Louis, Missouri20112014PrivateGriffinsMCVL
Immaculata UniversityMalvern, Pennsylvania20182022PrivateMighty MacsIndependent
Lakeland College[b 1]Sheboygan, Wisconsin20132014PrivateMuskiesNACC
College of Mount St. Joseph[b 2]Delhi Township, Ohio2011[b 3]2014PrivateLionsMCVL
Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE)Milwaukee, Wisconsin20112014PrivateRaidersNACC
Neumann UniversityAston, Pennsylvania20172020PrivateKnightsIndependent
Ramapo CollegeMahwah, New Jersey20172019PublicRoadrunnersNJAC, Skyline[b 4]
Stevenson UniversityOwings Mills, Maryland20112017PrivateMustangsMAC
Thiel CollegeGreenville, Pennsylvania20112018PrivateTomcatsAMCC
University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz)Santa Cruz, California20112013PublicBanana SlugsIndependent

In addition to the above schools, two other institutions that were adding men's volleyball for the 2014–15 school year (2015 season)—Benedictine University in Illinois and Loras College in Iowa—had been announced as new CVC members. They never officially joined the CVC, instead uniting with the six Midwestern CVC schools in the MCVL.[3] (Benedictine left once its all-sports home of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference began sponsoring men's volleyball in 2017–18, while Loras left the MCVL in 2019 for single-sport membership in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, which added men's volleyball for 2019–20 and beyond.)

Membership timeline

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

Roanoke CollegeRandolph–Macon CollegeImmaculata UniversityElizabethtown CollegeSouthern Virginia UniversityRamapo CollegeNeumann UniversityKean UniversityAlvernia UniversityRutgers University–NewarkMarymount UniversityThiel CollegeStevenson UniversityMilwaukee School of EngineeringMount St. Joseph UniversityLakeland UniversityFontbonne UniversityDominican University (Illinois)Carthage CollegeUniversity of California, Santa CruzJuniata CollegeEastern Mennonite UniversityCairn University


Conference Tournament Champions

SeasonChampionRecord
2012UC Santa Cruz17-7
2013Juniata24-12
2014Juniata29-5
2015Rutgers-Newark22-10
2016Stevenson26-8
2017Juniata22-11
2018Kean34-3
2019Southern Virginia23-4[15]
2020**
2021Southern Virginia16-4
2022Rutgers-Newark23-4
2023Juniata30-3

League titles by school

SchoolChampionshipsChampionship Years
Juniata
4
2013, 2014, 2017, 2023
Rutgers-Newark
2
2015, 2022
Southern Virginia
2
2019, 2021
Kean
1
2018
Stevenson
1
2016
UC Santa Cruz
1
2012

Notes

References