PEMBROKE — One coach just starting out, one who’s been at the helm for a decade and two standout athletes took the stage Monday at the Wing Company of Pembroke.

UNC Pembroke’s volleyball and cross country teams were represented at the latest edition of UNCP’s Coaches Show, with first-year volleyball coach Jaleesa Harper and player Vanja Przulj and veteran cross country coach Peter Ormsby and runner Jack Phieffer featured in the luncheon event.

In a roundtable discussion format, both teams gave updates on their season; the Braves volleyball team is 6-5 entering Wednesday’s match at Francis Marion, while the cross country team has run two races so far, with the men’s team finishing second and the women fourth in last week’s race at North Georgia.

“It’s a good mixture of returners from last season with the success, and we have a very talented group that came in,” Harper said. “It’s a mixture of transfers and a large freshman class. So far what I’ve seen from my team is we’re scrappy, we show a lot of resilience, and the team chemistry right now is really good as we go into conference play.”

“It’s super early for us; we don’t have a lot of matches like volleyball, we only have five races,” said Ormsby, in his 11th season leading the programs. “This is the first year without a Josh Chepkesir. So the spotlight isn’t on that, it’s on the other 10 or 12 guys who we race. It’s exciting to shine the spotlight on those other 10 guys moving forward.”

Harper is in her first season leading the Braves after the former assistant took the head job when Carly Wehling stepped down after last season. Harper and Ormsby compared their first seasons as a head coach.

“So far, having patience and also giving myself grace in certain situations,” Harper said. “That’s been something that I had conversations with myself … over this summer, to have patience in this season, don’t stress about things you can’t control, and just try to be the best version of yourself for your players to feed off of that.”

“Use your resources and make sure your staff is on point … and just have fun,” Ormsby told Harper. “When it stops having fun, that’s probably when you shouldn’t be doing it.”

Przulj and Phieffer also discussed their respective head coaches and why they like competing for them.

“(Harper) is very understanding, very patient with us,” said Przulj, a senior outside hitter. “I think we have a good group this year and she’s doing a great job of pushing us to do better and be better every day.”

“He’s straight up, he’s honest,” Phieffer, a redshirt junior, said. “He knows training plans, in and out, and it shows in the success year in and year out.”

The two athletes on the panel took different routes to reach UNCP. Phieffer came to Pembroke from a couple hours up the road in Southport.

“I was looking at big schools, the Elons, and some of them didn’t feel like a family; I want a family, and I came here and that’s what I got,” Phieffer said. “We’re all really close, we’re all brothers, we train, workout, eat, sleep.”

Przulj, meanwhile, is from Belgrade, Serbia, and transferred into the Braves program after playing at Butler Community College in Kansas.

“The recruiting process was hard because they can recruit based off your highlight video, it’s different when they see you in person and kind of see your vibe,” Przulj said. “So it was hard to find schools, but I’m here now. … I think it was what Coach Carly (Wehling) said when we talked on the phone, how the group last year was all very close and we were all very good friends on and off the court, and that’s something I wanted to have.”

Both athletes were asked what advice they’d give to younger athletes in their sport, and said to always have fun and pace yourself.

“Don’t forget to have fun, because over the years it might turn into a job and over time you might lose your love for the sport, because it will test your patience, your values, your beliefs,” Przulj said. “But the most important thing is if you can be serious and you can do your best, you can still have fun at the same time.”

“A lot of people try to be heroes in workouts and try to overdo themselves, but rest is key,” Phieffer said. “And when I say rest, that’s still a six-mile run at a seven- or eight-(minute) pace. But it’s so important for your body to be well-rested, instead of hammering workouts. You’ve got to listen to your body.”

Przulj broke the UNCP school record with 32 kills in a match last week, which ties the most kills in a five-set match in NCAA Division II this season. She was named Conference Carolinas Player of the Week Monday.

“Obviously it feels nice, and it wasn’t something that I was going for,” Przulj said. “But it is an individual thing, and I would not be able to accomplish any of that without my team. … We put in work every day and it’s nice to see that it paid off.”

While the sports played by each team are entirely different, the teams do have success in common: both the Braves volleyball team and the men’s cross country team won Conference Carolinas championships last fall, while the women’s cross country team placed third.

“It’s athletes like Jack and the girls we bring in, who are putting the work in day in and day out, 12 months a year,” Ormsby said. “They don’t have an offseason. It’s really the quality of student-athlete we’re bringing in who are buying into what I’m selling and they’re willing to put in the work that other people aren’t.”

Competing in the current season as the reigning conference champs, the Braves know they are a team that every opponent will get up for, Przulj said.

“(Harper) always said is we have that target on our back, and every time, no matter what team we play, they always bring their A game,” Przulj said. “So we just have to be aware that everyone wants to beat us. Yes, we do have a different team from last year, but I do think that the freshman and the new people that came this year, they’re all very hardworking and put in a lot of work every day in practice, and we’re going to defend the conference championship.”

The next UNCP Coaches Show will be held Oct. 16 at Wing Company in Pembroke.