PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 12--Penn's bid for the squash upset of the year ended when Steve Samson hit a hot streak to have Harvard a 5-4 victory today.

The Crimson quickly leaped to a 4-0 head, only to see Penn narrow the margin to 4-3. Either Dinny Adams at number four or Simpson at eight had to win the final matches if Harvard was to maintain its 36-game victory streak.

Adams and Simpson both pulled ahead 2-1 in games but Penn's Dana Steele was beginning to wear Adams down. Meanwhile on the next court Simpson was tied it 9-9 with Quaker Hunter Lott. Then Simpson got hot. A passing shot down the wall and two tinned shots by Lott made it 12-9. Simpson, not easing up for second, hit a dazzling corner shot which all but wrecked Lott's confidence. The last two points were easy winners for Simpson.

Moments later Adams dropped the last two games by 17-16 scores for his first collegiate loss.

Harvard number 1 player Romer Holleran won perhaps his best match ever in defeating Al Jacobs, a surprise starter Penn. Jacobs, a top college player, eligibility just in time to compete against Harvard, but lost anyway 9-15, 6-13, 15-12, 17-14.

Trailing 13-9 in the second game, Holleran won 7 straight points. In one of the , Holleran and Jacobs exchanged 43 times before Holleran angled a winner.

It was only one of many amazingly long yesterday, which can be explained the hot Penn courts. Squash balls become livelier as the temperature rises, and rallies tend to lengthen since winning drop shots usually become setups. This makes it easy for hard hitters, such Bill Morris, Todd Wilkinson, and Craig , who all won decisive victories for Harvard.

But the Crimson touch players suffered. Terrell and Tarry Robinson, second and third players for Harvard, fell prey to Penn's Howard Coonley and John Reese. Robinson, in a match interrupted by several injuries, lost a heartbreaker 15-7, 15-12, 8-15, 12-15, 15-13. Adams and Dave Benjamin (number 6), Harvard's drop shot specialists, lost to power players.

The close victory over Penn leaves little optimism for Harvard's chances against Princeton today. The Tigers' top three players are about equal to Penn's but Princeton has more depth. Harvard will have to win heavily in the middle of the ladder if its hopes to come home with the Ivy Title.

The undefeated Crimson freshmen rolled to their seventh victory by defeating Penn 9-0.