The MCVL was formed in the summer of 2014 and is the eighth NCAA men's volleyball conference in NCAA Division III.
The MCVL inaugural season began in January 2015 and included Benedictine University, Carthage College, Dominican University, Fontbonne University, Lakeland College, Loras College, Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) and Mount St. Joseph University.
The MCVL was formed after six institutions (Carthage, Dominican, Fontbonne, Lakeland, MSOE and Mount St. Joseph) decided to split from the their previous conference affiliation, the Continental Volleyball Conference. Benedictine and Loras were added to the newly formed conference which is based in the Midwest.
In the winter of 2016, Adrian College, Greenville College, Marian University (Wis.), North Central College, Olivet College and Wittenberg University joined the MCVL to bring conference membership to 14. For the first time in league history, the teams were split into two divisions. This change lasted one year and was discontinued when Benedictine, Dominican, Lakeland, MSOE and Marian left the league when the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) announced it would sponsor men's volleyball beginning in 2018.
Prior to the 2018 season, Augustana was officially welcomed into the league to bring the membership to 10 schools, but after the season Wittenberg announced it was leaving the league. More change came after the 2019 season as the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) began its sponsorship of men's volleyball. Augustana, Carthage, Greenville, Loras, and North Central (Ill.) all departed the MCVL ahead of the 2020 season.
Mount Union's brand new program started up for the 2020 season, bringing MCVL membership to six schools that year. The lower number didn't last long as Baldwin Wallace and Wabash brought their new programs to the MCVL and Wittenberg was readmitted. The same nine schools competed in both 2021 and 2022.
Calvin University was admitted for the 2023 season.
Chris Martin, also the CCIW Commissioner, served as Commissioner of the MCVL for the league's first two seasons (2015 and 2016). Chuck Yrigoyen, who was Commissioner of the American Rivers Conference, was appointed MCVL Commissioner prior to the 2017 season and has served ever since.