It was a close call for the nation's number-one Harvard men's squash team.

But that close call didn't come from its opponent Saturday--the Crimson had little trouble disposing of Penn--but on the plane that the Crimson took to Philadelphia.

While the plane was making its final approach to Philadelphia International Airport, it had problems with its landing gear. After circling the city for 45 minutes, the plane finally made an emergency landing--with the Crimson players in crash position.

Unfortunately for Penn, Harvard arrived safely.

The racquetmen crushed the Quakers, 7-2, to improve their record to 10-0 (3-0 in Ivy) and extend their nine-man dual winning streak to 57 consecutive games.

"We were a little shaken," Harvard's Jack Colbourne said, "It would have been a little messy if the landing gears wouldn't have worked."

"It was a big event," Harvard Co-Captain Kevin Jernigan said. "It was fun. Living on the edge gave me a new perspective on life. They could have saved a lot of trouble by just landing the plane--we wouldn't have ever known about the problem."

After an emergency landing, you'd think the Fates would be nice enough to leave the Crimson alone.

But before the match, Harvard's number-one player, Rusty Ball, suffered a groin injury, forcing everyone on the squad to move up a spot.

In the opening match, Harvard's Marius Pandole trounced Penn's number-one, David Proctor, in four games, 15-13, 15-8, 11-15, 15-12.

After Harvard's John Bernheimer fell to George Spahr in four games, the Crimson's James Gilfillan scored a 14-16, 15-10, 16-13, 18-17 victory over Peter Butcher.

Harvard's Greg Lee then lost a close match at number-nine, which tied the score at 2-2.

Harvard's Jack Colbourne scored the most important win for the Crimson in the number-six match. After falling behind two games to one to the Quakers' Scott Dainels, Colbourne came back to win the final two. Colbourne's victory gave the squad a 3-2 advantage.

"Jack had the biggest win," Harvard Assistant Coach Peter Dinneen said. "If he would have lost--they would have been up 3-2."

Earthquake

With the racquetmen up 4-2 in matches, Jernigan recorded a 15-7, 15-7, 12-15, 15-5 triumph over Peter Lubowitz. Jernigan's win secured the victory for the Crimson at 5-2.

In a surprise match, Harvard Co-Captain Joe Dowling, pressed to play at number two, crushed Stewart Ballard, 7-15, 15-12, 18-15, 15-7.

The Crimson will host Yale at Hemenway Gymnasium on Tuesday, with a chance to capture the Ivy and nine-man championship titles.

THE NOTEBOOK: Harvard now leads the series over Penn by a 40-2 advantage...In the first match played between Harvard and Penn in 1929, Harvard won 6-0...Doug Lifford and Will Iselin recorded the only shutouts for the Crimson Saturday...Penn's two individual match wins marked the first time that a Penn player had won an individual match since a 5-4 loss to Harvard in 1981.