For the most part, the answer is no to a status match. Marriott will do a status challenge though (and sometimes you can get the status immediately rather than waiting until after meeting the challenge's requirements.)

Here are some threads that may be of help:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...challenge.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...-question.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...tus-match.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...challange.html

And I'm sure there are more. Just do a search using the terms "status" and "challenge" or "status and "match".