- March 16, 2025
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Zoe Kirby often compares herself to others — but not in a bad way. She doesn’t pine after what other people have or stew in jealousy over another person’s achievements.
Instead, she uses that comparison objectively, as a measuring stick. An only child, the Cardinal Mooney senior didn’t have siblings to compare herself to, the natural companions and rivals from which to grow with.
For Kirby, comparison is not the thief of joy. It’s the catalyst for growth.
“What pushes me is seeing other people achieve greatness,” said Kirby. “I base a lot of the things that I want to do not off of other people, but on what they've accomplished. I see what they’ve done and I want to beat it.”
On Feb. 5, Kirby officially signed to play volleyball at the United States Air Force Academy next season, the culmination of a high school athletic career that has seen her excel at four varsity sports and find her path along the way.
Kirby’s journey, from playing volleyball in the YMCA at 8 years old to committing to a Division 1 school to win regional titles in weightlifting, is one defined by hard work.
Kirby, a middle-hitter on Mooney’s volleyball team, has the physical tools of an elite athlete. She stands around 6 feet and is a weightlifter in the 199-pound class.
Her mentality, that of a quiet, strong leader, and willingness to push herself, are part of what has made her into the athlete that she is today. Outside of just her physical skills, those were the qualities that made first-year volleyball Head Coach Allan Knight name her as one of the captains before the start of her senior season.
“She immediately struck me as a leader, someone who could take the team from point A to point B,” said Knight. “I saw that she has a work ethic that’s above and beyond just being a force as a hitter and a blocker.”
Middle hitter, Knight noted, is perhaps the most demanding position on the court. He said that it’s akin to running a suicide for the entire game — responsible for attacking and blocking, the middle hitter sprints to and from the net, taking up space and reading the opponent’s sets.
Without Kirby, he said, the Cougars would fall apart.
Her high-water mark of the season came during Cardinal Mooney’s 3-0 victory against Venice Sept. 19 and in the Cougar’s 3-1 defeat of Tampa Berkeley Prep, the Class 3A state runner-up, on Oct. 1.
“She’d come at them with power, hitting balls straight down in front of their defenders to where they’re getting PTSD from being fired on so often,” said Knight. “They’re taking body shots from Zoe and balls are hitting the floor in front of them and bouncing into their faces. That sets a tone and lets us execute our game plan, which is a big responsibility.”
There was a moment in Kirby’s athletic career where she had to make a choice. It was the start of her sophomore year, the year that she started to take volleyball seriously ahead of potential college recruitment — colleges can come into contact with student-athletes the summer after their sophomore year — and she had to decide whether volleyball was going to be a hobby or a pursuit.
“I said to myself, ‘I either have to step up or step down,’” said Kirby. “So I decided to take the step-up route.”
The step-up route meant dedicating more time and effort off the court to improve her on the court performance. It was then Kirby decided to join the girls weightlifting team, with the idea that it would increase her strength and explosiveness, two core skills of a middle hitter.
Weightlifting did that, in spades, but it also brought an entirely new passion into Kirby’s life. Kirby quickly took to the sport, with her father, who Kirby said she is extremely close with, building her a home gym.
In her first season, she unexpectedly won her district championship and punched her way to the state championship meet. Last season, she placed fourth in the state championship. This year, Kirby looks to podium at the state meet in Lakeland, after being crowned the Class 1A-Region 4 champion in the Olympic 199-pound weight class.
To put it lightly, Kirby is a math wiz. A National Honor Society and Mu Alpha Theta (math honors) member with a 4.2 GPA, Kirby sees aspects of her life through patterns. Like the units in her AP Calculus class, rotations in volleyball are just patterns, connected through time by muscle memory. In track and field, the throwing motion of the javelin and shot put are akin to the movements found in the snatch and clean and jerk of Olympic weightlifting.
Patterns are part of why Kirby, whose immediate family is not in the military, chose the Air Force Academy. While the warm coaching staff and team were an encouraging factor, Kirby knew above all that she wanted to be pushed.
Like her current schedule, that of the Air Force Academy is highly regimented — there are set times for practice, class, school work, eating and sleeping. Kirby has thrived in that environment, where some may see restriction, she sees structure and support.
At the Air Force Academy, Kirby will move from one pattern — her life at Cardinal Mooney, replete with friends, teammates and a familiarity that can only come from being a high school student — to another.
She’ll face obstacles and hardships, as the life of a college student is not always an easy one, especially for those at a military academy, but the data shows that she’ll pick up her new pattern of life as a cadet fairly quickly.
