Brooke Bultema, right, has decided to transfer from Kentucky after being one of the team's best blockers the last two seasons. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Replacing All-American Eva Hudson is an impossible task for Kentucky volleyball coach Craig Skinner but he’s certainly trying.
Kentucky announced Wednesday that 6-foot-5 sophomore outside hitter Morgan Gaerte of Notre Dame had transferred to UK. Like Hudson, the 2025 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year after transferring from Purdue, Gaerte is a big hitter who last season had a school-record 497 kills — 4.64 per set that ranked 13th in the country.
She had a season-high 34 kills against Illinois — she also had 33 against Clemson and 31 versus Wake Forest — and had 10 games with 20 or more kills. The Notre Dame transfer also started last season with 10 or more kills in 22 straight matches.
She will give Kentucky even more size at the net and should only add to UK’s blocking prowess
Gaerte was named to the All-ACC First Team last season, something no Notre Dame player had done since 2020, and earned honorable mention All-American honors. She was also Notre Dame’s team captain last season and started all 28 matches.
The versatile Gaerte had 183 digs, 68 blocks and 36 service aces, including five against Georgia Tech. All-American Molly Tuozzo led Kentucky with 34 aces last season.
The Indiana native was ranked as the nation’s No. 5 2023 recruit by Volleyball Magazine and was named the top player in Indiana by Prep Dig in 2022 before earning All-American honors in 2023. She was part of the USA Volleyball national team development program in 2021, 20222 and 2023.
Brooke Bultema leaving
Kentucky sophomore middle blocker Brooke Bultema announced Wednesday she was transferring. She redshirted her first year at UK and in 2024 was named to the SEC all-freshman team after leading UK in blocks with 0.99 per set and led UK in kills with 217.
She was so impressive in 2024 that she was picked to the 2025 preseason All-SEC team and drew constant praise from Skinner for her work ethic. However, she played in only 57 sets in UK’s 33 matches and finished the season with 92 kills. She still averaged 0.96 blocks per set, the second highest average on the team.
