diff --git a/src/daft-connect/src/translation/logical_plan/sort.rs b/src/daft-connect/src/translation/logical_plan/sort.rs
index 15baccbcd8..695c4d5756 100644
--- a/src/daft-connect/src/translation/logical_plan/sort.rs
+++ b/src/daft-connect/src/translation/logical_plan/sort.rs
@@ -50,7 +50,8 @@ pub fn sort(sort: spark_connect::Sort) -> eyre::Result<LogicalPlanBuilder> {
         // todo(correctness): is this correct?
         let is_descending = match direction {
             SortDirection::Unspecified => {
-                bail!("Unspecified sort direction is not yet supported")
+                // default to ascending order
+                false
             }
             SortDirection::Ascending => false,
             SortDirection::Descending => true,
@@ -59,7 +60,8 @@ pub fn sort(sort: spark_connect::Sort) -> eyre::Result<LogicalPlanBuilder> {
         // todo(correctness): is this correct?
         let tentative_sort_nulls_first = match null_ordering {
             NullOrdering::SortNullsUnspecified => {
-                bail!("Unspecified null ordering is not yet supported")
+                // default: match is_descending
+                is_descending
             }
             NullOrdering::SortNullsFirst => true,
             NullOrdering::SortNullsLast => false,
diff --git a/tests/connect/test_sort.py b/tests/connect/test_sort.py
index 653510db18..43ed0a85cd 100644
--- a/tests/connect/test_sort.py
+++ b/tests/connect/test_sort.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 from pyspark.sql.functions import col
 
 
-def test_sort(spark_session):
+def test_sort_desc(spark_session):
     # Create DataFrame from range(10)
     df = spark_session.range(10)
 
@@ -11,6 +11,35 @@ def test_sort(spark_session):
     df_sorted = df.sort(col("id").desc())
 
     # Verify the DataFrame is sorted correctly
-    df_pandas = df.toPandas()
-    df_sorted_pandas = df_sorted.toPandas()
-    assert df_sorted_pandas["id"].equals(df_pandas["id"].sort_values(ascending=False).reset_index(drop=True)), "Data should be sorted in descending order"
+    actual = df_sorted.collect()
+
+    expected = list(range(9, -1, -1))
+    assert [row.id for row in actual] == expected
+
+
+def test_sort_asc(spark_session):
+    # Create DataFrame from range(10)
+    df = spark_session.range(10)
+
+    # Sort the DataFrame by 'id' column in ascending order
+    df_sorted = df.sort(col("id").asc())
+
+    # Verify the DataFrame is sorted correctly
+    actual = df_sorted.collect()
+
+    expected = list(range(10))
+    assert [row.id for row in actual] == expected
+
+
+def test_sort_default(spark_session):
+    # Create DataFrame from range(10)
+    df = spark_session.range(10)
+
+    # Default sort should be ascending
+    df_sorted = df.sort("id")
+
+    # Verify the DataFrame is sorted correctly
+    actual = df_sorted.collect()
+
+    expected = list(range(10))
+    assert [row.id for row in actual] == expected