[2] In January 2017, the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC), the all-sports home of five MCVL members—charter members Benedictine, Dominican University of Illinois, Lakeland College of Wisconsin (now Lakeland University) and the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE), plus 2015 arrival Marian—announced that it would begin sponsoring men's volleyball in the 2018 season.
Augustana had intended to begin varsity play as an independent with a view toward eventually gaining MCVL membership,[7] but was immediately accepted into the league.
Wittenberg left to become a single-sport affiliate in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference,[9] while Trine University resurrected a varsity program that last played in 2002 and joined the MCVL.
[10] The MCVL lost half of its 2019 membership when the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) added men's volleyball for the 2020 season.
Wittenberg returned to the MCVL after a two-year absence,[13] and the league added the new varsity programs of Baldwin Wallace University[14] and Wabash College.
[15] The league's most recent expansion took place after the 2023 season with the arrival of Calvin University, which started a new varsity men's volleyball program.
The conference formed Eastern and Western Divisions for the 2017 season,[20] but reverted to a single-table format following the departure of the five NACC members.