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Former Kentucky VB player Brooke Bultema transfers to rival school

Zack Geogheganby: Zack Geoghegan12/27/25ZGeogheganKSR

A couple of days after entering her name into the transfer portal, a former Kentucky volleyball player is making the move to an in-state rival.

It was announced Friday afternoon that Brooke Bultema, who spent her first three college seasons (one being a redshirt) as a Wildcat, has transferred to the Louisville Cardinals. A 6-foot-3 middle blocker out of Cincinnati, OH, Bultema was a member of the SEC All-Freshman Team in 2024 for Kentucky. But she only appeared in 57 sets as a redshirt sophomore in 2025, less than half the amount she saw the season prior.

With Kentucky head coach Craig Skinner expected to return eight of his top nine rotational players from last season’s national runner-up squad (plus the recent addition of All-ACC outside hitter Morgan Gaerte), Bultema decided to look elsewhere. Unfortunately, it just happened to be the Big Blue Nation’s most-hated rival.

Bultema finished her Kentucky career with 162 total sets played. 105 of those came as a redshirt freshman, which saw her record 2.07 kills per set (217 total kills on the season) while leading the team in blocks at 1.02 per set. She posted a career-best 15 kills that season against Tennessee. But her on-court time dipped in 2025, resulting in only 92 combined kills. Oddly enough, her best match of the season came against her new team. Bultema went for 11 kills and eight blocks in a 3-2 win over Louisville back in September.

Once a Wildcat, always a Wildcat — except when Kentucky is going head-to-head with Louisville next season.

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2026-05-20