Sport Volleyball No. of teams 9 Official website mivavolleyball.com | Founded 1961 Most recent
champion(s) Ohio State Buckeyes | |
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; in addition the MIVA has one member located in Arizona. Many of the conference's schools also participate in the similarly named Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association in men's volleyball at the club level.
Contents
The MIVA Tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the NCAA National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Championship which consists of six teams who play single elimination to determine the National Champion. The two other 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. Through the 2013 tournament, each of the three champions received an automatic place in the national semifinals. Starting in 2014, the tournament expanded from four to six teams, with the champion of Conference Carolinas also receiving an automatic bid; the top two seeds receive a bye into the semifinals and the remaining four teams play for places in the semifinals.
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 forty schools from Divisions I, II, and III, as well as a couple pf junior colleges, have participated as members of the MIVA. The current membership is made up of five D-I (including two charter members) and four D-II institutions.
Three MIVA teams have won the NCAA Men's National Collegiate 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 and 2016.
Members
The MIVA comprises nine teams from the NCAA's Division I and Division II.
University of Michigan
MIVA in the NCAA tournament
Until 2014, the NCAA Men's National Collegiate 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.