The Continental Volleyball Conference is an intercollegiate men's volleyball conference associated with the NCAA's Division III.
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.History of the CVC
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. 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). 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.
The conference added the newly launched men's volleyball program of Alvernia as its eighth member for the 2017 season.
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. 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. Then, on November 21, Ramapo was announced as an incoming member for the 2018 season.
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.
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. Then, in December of that year, the CVC announced that Elizabethtown College and Immaculata University would also join.
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. Ramapo College left the CVC and returned to the Skyline Conference; Rampo maintains dual affiliation for men's volleyball in the NJAC and Skyline.
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. The CVC added another member when Roanoke College announced the addition of men's volleyball for the 2022 season.
With the addition of men's volleyball in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, Eastern Mennonite, Randolph-Macon, and Roanoke departed the CVC after the 2024 season to participate in men's volleyball competition in their home conference.
Five more members are set to depart after the 2026 season. Drew, Elizabethtown, Juniata, and Wilkes will move men's volleyball to their primary home of the Landmark Conference, which will begin sponsoring the sport in the 2027 season, with Kean joining them as an affiliate member in that sport.
Member schools Current members The league currently has 5 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.
InstitutionLocationFoundedJoinedTypeEnrollmentNicknamePrimaryconferenceRegent UniversityVirginia Beach, Virginia19772026Private10,657RoyalsC2CRutgers University–NewarkNewark, New Jersey19362014Public12,011Scarlet RaidersNJACSouthern Virginia UniversityBuena Vista, Virginia18672017Private1,106KnightsUSA SouthWarren Wilson CollegeSwannanoa, North Carolina18942026Private791OwlsC2CWilliam Peace UniversityRaleigh, North Carolina18572026Private950PacersUSA South
Former members School names and nicknames reflect those in use during the final season each school was a CVC member. InstitutionLocationJoinedLeftTypeNicknameCurrentvolleyball conference Alvernia University Reading, Pennsylvania 2016 2017 Private Crusaders MACCairn UniversityLanghorne, Pennsylvania20112019PrivateCrimson EaglesUnited EastCarthage CollegeKenosha, Wisconsin20112014PrivateRedmen CCIWDominican UniversityRiver Forest, Illinois20132014PrivateStars NACCDrew UniversityMadison, New Jersey20252026PrivateRangersLandmarkEastern Mennonite UniversityHarrisonburg, Virginia20112024PrivateRoyalsODACElizabethtown College Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania20182026PrivateBlue JaysLandmarkFontbonne UniversitySt. Louis, Missouri20112014PrivateGriffins N/AImmaculata UniversityMalvern, Pennsylvania20182022PrivateMighty Macs United EastJuniata CollegeHuntingdon, Pennsylvania20112026PrivateEaglesLandmarkKean UniversityUnion, New Jersey20172026PublicCougarsLandmarkLakeland College Sheboygan, Wisconsin20132014PrivateMuskies NACCMarymount UniversityArlington, Virginia20132026PrivateSaints United East Delhi Township, Ohio2011 2014PrivateLions MCVL Milwaukee School of EngineeringMilwaukee, Wisconsin20112014PrivateRaiders NACC Neumann University Aston, Pennsylvania 2017 2020 Private Knights United EastRamapo CollegeMahwah, New Jersey20172019PublicRoadrunnersNJAC, SkylineRandolph-Macon CollegeAshland, Virginia20182024PrivateYellow JacketsODACRoanoke CollegeSalem, Virginia20212024PrivateMaroonsODAC Stevenson University Owings Mills, Maryland 2011 2017 Private Mustangs MAC Thiel College Greenville, Pennsylvania 2011 2018 Private Tomcats AMCC University of California, Santa CruzSanta Cruz, California20112013PublicBanana Slugs IndependentWilkes UniversityWilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania20252026PrivateColonelsLandmark
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.
Membership timeline As noted previously, the year of joining is the calendar year before the first season of competition.
Conference Tournament Champions SeasonChampionRecord2012UC Santa Cruz17-72013Juniata24-122014Juniata29-52015Rutgers-Newark22-102016Stevenson26-82017Juniata22-112018Kean34-32019Southern Virginia23-42020Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic2021Southern Virginia16-42022Rutgers-Newark23-42023Juniata30-32024Southern Virginia29-1 2025 Southern Virginia 35-1
League titles by school School Championships Championship years Juniata 2013, 2014, 2017, 2023 Southern Virginia 2019, 2021, 2024, 2025 Rutgers-Newark 2015, 2022 Kean 2018 Stevenson 2016 UC Santa Cruz 2012
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