News7's Holly Pietrzak |
Holly Pietrzak is WDBJ7's weekend anchor. She also reports three days a week. Before transitioning into her current position, Holly spent five years as the Chief Reporter in our New River Valley Newsroom in Blacksburg. Her deep roots in the area often take her back there to report.
Holly has a decade of experience. From mass murders and manhunts to more pleasant stories like finding a lost Giles County boy and helping a disabled Blacksburg man get a new scooter from a WDBJ7 viewer, Holly has led WDBJ7 coverage on numerous significant stories in the New River Valley that have made state, national, and international headlines.
Her highlight was a one-on-one sit down interview with Barrack Obama as he made his run for the presidency.
Holly's leadership in reporting led to three back-to-back regional Edward R. Murrow Awards for Best Continuing Coverage. The first was for the hunt of escaped prisoner William Morva, a Blacksburg man convicted of the capital murders of a hospital security guard and a sheriff's deputy. In 2008, Randall Lee Smith befriended two fishermen in the Jefferson National Forest. He shot each of them multiple times, but they escaped and lived. Smith died in jail. The kicker - he was already a convicted murderer. Smith killed two hikers in a similar area in 1981. The third award came from a standoff and hostage situation at the Wytheville Post Office on December 23, 2009. Warren Taylor, a disabled Tennessee man, told police his wheelchair was packed with the explosive C4, and he shot out several windows. The whole situation latest about eight hours as WDBJ7 provided live, continuing coverage from just a short distance away.
Holly graduated from Point Park University where she enjoyed playing volleyball there on scholarship.
Holly has a decade of experience. From mass murders and manhunts to more pleasant stories like finding a lost Giles County boy and helping a disabled Blacksburg man get a new scooter from a WDBJ7 viewer, Holly has led WDBJ7 coverage on numerous significant stories in the New River Valley that have made state, national, and international headlines.
Her highlight was a one-on-one sit down interview with Barrack Obama as he made his run for the presidency.
Holly's leadership in reporting led to three back-to-back regional Edward R. Murrow Awards for Best Continuing Coverage. The first was for the hunt of escaped prisoner William Morva, a Blacksburg man convicted of the capital murders of a hospital security guard and a sheriff's deputy. In 2008, Randall Lee Smith befriended two fishermen in the Jefferson National Forest. He shot each of them multiple times, but they escaped and lived. Smith died in jail. The kicker - he was already a convicted murderer. Smith killed two hikers in a similar area in 1981. The third award came from a standoff and hostage situation at the Wytheville Post Office on December 23, 2009. Warren Taylor, a disabled Tennessee man, told police his wheelchair was packed with the explosive C4, and he shot out several windows. The whole situation latest about eight hours as WDBJ7 provided live, continuing coverage from just a short distance away.
Holly graduated from Point Park University where she enjoyed playing volleyball there on scholarship.
She got her start at KDKA-TV as an intern working 40 hour weeks in commercial production while taking night classes.
The work paid off and she was hired as an associate producer at WTAE during her final year of college.
Just before graduation, she accepted a job in West Virginia as the Raleigh County Bureau Chief and was later promoted to weekend anchor at WVVA. Then in 2005, she made the move to WDBJ.
Holly fell in love with a local guy from Floyd County. She and Micah married in April 2010. The couple loves Southwest Virginia and have made a home in Montgomery County.
Her heart, however, will always remain in her hometown of Pittsburgh, PA. Go Steelers!
On her days off, Holly enjoys volunteering in her community, lifting weights, gardening, playing volleyball, skiing and camping.
You can stay in contact with Holly by e-mailing her or by "friending" her on Facebook.
